Anglican Communion News Service:
Two consultants of the Inter-Anglican Standing Commission on Unity, Faith and Order (IASCUFO) have been reinstated as full members at the request of the Commission’s chairman.Dr Grieb is a member of the Episcopal Church in the US, and Archbishop Zavala is primate of the Anglican Church of the Southern Cone.
The redesignation of Dr Katherine Grieb and Archbishop Tito Zavala as consultants took place as a result of the Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams’ Pentecost letter to the Anglican Communion issued in May 2010.
This latest decision follows a request by IASCUFO chairman Archbishop Bernard Ntahoturi that Archbishop Williams reconsider the application of the letter to IASCUFO so that the consultants can be reinstated as full members for the sake of the work of the Commission.
Acknowledging that members of IASCUFO are present in virtue of skills relevant to the work of the Commission and are not present as representatives of their Provinces, Archbishop Williams has requested that the Secretary General of the Anglican Communion Canon Kenneth Kearon reinstate Archbishop Zavala and Dr Grieb.
Several days ago, I posted a link to the video produced by the members of the Inter-Anglican Standing Commission on Unity Faith and Order, which includes commentary by Dr Katherine Grieb and noted the irony that Dr Grieb's position on the commission had been reduced to that of a consultant. Well, perhaps someone or ones in the Anglican Communion Office, perhaps even Archbishop Rowan himself, saw the irony and recognized the petty foolishness of the original demotions, and Dr Grieb, along with Archbishop Tito Zavala, have now been restored to their original positions as a full members of the commission. Keep in mind that these demotions took place without the covenant in place. Who knows what will follow, if the covenant is adopted by a majority of the churches in the communion?
Perhaps he read your post asking the question about paying and playing! At least I think it was something like that.
ReplyDeletesusan s., ya think? Maybe one day he'll leave a comment. On second thought, I doubt that Rowan reads blogs.
ReplyDeleteGrandmere Mimi--Sigh! I would like to believe that Lambeth Palace/ABC did this because he recognized the high road when he saw it. But, ever the cynic IMNSHO I think he did it because she seems to be in his camp. He always gets the "wise as serpents" part. We, and I do not berate us for this, always get the "gentle as doves" part. In the end it is the better part. When the Commission on Faith, Unity and Order came up, was it two years ago?, I had some serious doubts as to its real purpose.
ReplyDeleteBonnie, one can't be blamed for a slight suspicion of quid pro quo in this situation.
ReplyDeleteWhen I first heard of IASCUFO, the name reminded me of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in the Roman Catholic Church.
The Archbisop of York's favourite newspaper would put it something like this:
ReplyDeletehttp://pluralistspeaks.blogspot.com/2012/03/its-cladgy-wots-doing-it.html
Adrian, I tried 5 times to post a comment on your blog with no success. Here's what I said:
ReplyDeleteAgreed. "It's the Cladgy Wot's Doing It", all right. Even if the covenant passes by a slim majority, the archbishops of England stand to lose...face if nothing else.
I still maintain that this is an exercise in power - we've had our hands slapped, and this is the positive reinforcement for Grieb's toeing the line.
ReplyDeleteMark, I won't argue with you, because you could very well be right.
ReplyDelete