The Dubliners

From The Living Church-

James Joyce’s volume of short stories entitled The Dubliners could be interesting reading for the primates when they meet in Dublin, January 25-31. These stories, set in a time of Irish crisis, feature moments of illumination which give new insight into familiar issues of life. In mutated form they are already being told prophetically about the course of this Dublin Primates’ Meeting.

One predictive story of the Primates’ Meeting goes like this: it is a very, very important meeting. Here would be present the titular heads of the member churches of the Communion. But they are not all coming; and if they did, they would not share the Eucharist together. No communion must therefore mean no Communion: the end is nigh. Accordingly, this boycotted meeting, so the prognosis goes, will be the effective ending of the Communion as we know it, the historical moment when Anglicans recognize that all is not well and never will be well again. In this case there will be a terrific fight to win the battle to determine who has been the culprit: TEC or GAFCON? North America or the Global South? Or will fingers point to Archbishop Rowan Williams, the man who would not disinvite Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori? Or, perhaps, to the Presiding Bishop herself, who knows that not going to Dublin would potentially be a fruitful decision for the health of the Communion.

A second narrative comes from a vigorous chorus of voices which say that the meeting is not important, just a clearing house of ideas and feelings. And the primates are, well, a little pompous as they presume prelatial privilege — maybe even an Anglo-papal power which they simply do not have. Real Anglican power lies with the people: synods, conventions and the Anglican Consultative Council count; pontificating primates do not!

More here-

http://www.livingchurch.org/news/news-updates/2011/1/7/the-dubliners