Abp. Makgoba: Listen to the Global South

From he Living Church-

The Archbishop of Cape Town directly addressed his fellow primate, Presiding Katharine Jefferts Schori, during the annual conference of the United Society for the Propagation of the Gospel.

The Most. Rev. Thabo Makgoba prefaced his remarks on June 10 by offering his own province as an example of how Anglicans stay together amid their differences about human sexuality.

“If in our Synod of Bishops we did not see Christ in one another — and if we did not agree on the central issues of who Jesus is and of the salvation that he brings — it would be another matter,” Archbishop Makgoba said. “But we do. And so our differing views on human sexuality therefore take second place alongside the strength of this overpowering conviction of Christ among us. As long as we know unity in Christ in this way, human sexuality is not, and cannot be, a church-dividing issue.”

About three-fourths into his address, the archbishop looked into the audience and addressed Bishop Jefferts Schori directly.

“This may be painful to you and to some of us here, and it is painful to me, but I would rather say those concerns openly than behind your back,” he said. “It sometimes seems to me, and to some people in our province and in the Global South that, though many have failed to listen adequately to the Spirit at work within the Episcopal Church, at the same time there’s the perception that within your province there has not been enough listening to the rest of the Anglican Communion, particularly of the Global South.

“People had hoped that those of your bishops who were at the Lambeth Conference would have grasped how sore and tender our common life is,” the archbishop said. “We had hoped that even those who, after long reflection, are convinced that there is a case for the consecration of individuals in same-sex partnerships, might nonetheless have seen how unhelpful it would be to the rest of us for you to proceed as you have done.

More here-

http://www.livingchurch.org/news/news-updates/2010/6/14/abp-makgoba-listen-to-the-global-south