The archbishop of
York on Saturday rebuked some Anglican traditionalists
for what he calls ungracious behavior toward Archbishop of
Canterbury Rowan Williams.
Williams has
drawn criticism from both sides in the Anglican Communion's
bitter division over the role of gay people in the
church, but Archbishop John Sentamu told the Church of
England's General Synod that some of the criticism was
wide of the mark.
Sentamu, regarded
as the second-ranking figure in the Church of England,
said it had "grieved me deeply to hear reports of the
ungracious personalization of the issues through the
criticism and scapegoating of Rowan Williams."
"Rowan Williams
exemplifies that quest of holding together holiness,
truth, love, and unity," he said. "The accusations and
inferences of what has been said by some are not only
ungenerous and unwarranted but they describe a person
I don't recognize as Rowan. He demonstrates, in his
dealings with others, the gift of gracious magnanimity."
Sentamu didn't
identify any of the people he was criticizing.
At the Global
Anglican Future Conference in Jerusalem last month,
Nigerian archbishop Peter Akinola declared that Williams
"was not interested in what matters to us, in what we
think, or in what we say."
Gene Robinson,
the gay priest whose elevation to bishop of New Hampshire
is at the center of the feud, also has criticized Williams.
In an interview
with the Church Times newspaper published May
2, Robinson said he wished that Williams had acted
strongly against bishops who refused to join at a communion
service with the head of the U.S. Episcopal Church
because of the gay issue.
"I would like him
to have insisted that everyone stay at the table,"
Robinson said. "I think to absent oneself from the
communion table because of the presence of other perceived
sinners is blasphemy against the sacrament. And I
think if the archbishop of Canterbury had named that
for what it was and had called it not just
inappropriate but sacrilege, we would be in a better place,"
Robinson added.
The General Synod
is the governing body of the Church of England,
composed of three houses: bishops, clergy, and laity. Any
business requires approval from all three houses. The
General Synod meeting opened Friday and continues
through Tuesday.
The most
contentious issue on the agenda is to make a preliminary
decision about how to deal with dissenters when, as is
expected, the Church of England decides to allow women
to be bishops.
A committee of
bishops has recommended a code of practice to deal with
parishes which would not recognize female bishops.
Opponents of
women bishops want a more formal structure, a separate
diocese within the Church of England, while many
advocates of female bishops oppose any special
protections for dissenters.
The issue will be
debated on Monday, but one delegate said on Saturday
that she feared there would be no resolution.
When it first
ordained women as priests in 1994, the Church of England
provided "flying bishops" to supervise parishes which
believed only men could be priests. These dissenters
want similar accommodation if women become bishops.
Opponents of the
ordination of women argued that Jesus entrusted the
church to 12 male disciples.
"My heart tells
me that we should find some way of accommodating both
sides of the argument. My head tells me that I don't think
that any form of accommodation will solve their
problem," said Prudence Dailey, from the diocese of
Oxford.
She said she
believed the church faces a problem of a "circle that
simply cannot be squared." (AP)
