Tanzanian Anglicans Sever Ties With Episcopal Church Over Gays
12 Dec 2006-
The Anglican Church of Tanzania declared Tuesday that it was cutting
ties with the Episcopal Church in the United States and would refuse to
accept any assistance from Episcopal bishops, institutions or
individuals that condone homosexuality.
The declaration
was the latest shot in the war within the communion over the ordination
and promotion of gay clergy and the blessing of same-sex partnerships.
The Episcopal
Church has drawn the ire of conservatives in its own ranks and notably
in Africa because it affirmed the election of V. Gene Robinson, who
lives openly in a gay relationship, as bishop of New Hampshire three
years ago.
At their
General Convention in June, the Tanzanian statement said, Episcopalians
failed to ``register honest repentance for their actions that were
contrary to the dictates of the Holy Scripture and the teaching of the
Anglican Church ... thereby indicating that they were deliberately
choosing to walk apart from the rest of the Anglican communion.''
At their
meeting on Dec. 7, the statement said, Tanzanian bishops declared their
communion with the Episcopal Church to be ``severely impaired.''
But ``the
Anglican Church of Tanzania remains in communion with those who are
faithful to Biblical Christianity and authority of Scripture who remain
in the Episcopal Church (USA) or have left or are considering leaving
that church body for the same reasons that we have stated above,'' the
statement said.
Henceforth, it
added, ``the Anglican Church of Tanzania shall not knowingly accept
financial and material aid from dioceses, parishes, bishops, priests,
individuals and institutions in the Episcopal Church (USA) that condone
homosexual practice or bless same-sex unions.''
In September,
leaders of the so-called Global South met in Kigali, Rwanda, and
affirmed that they were ready to work with conservative Episcopalians to
set up an alternative structure in the United States.
The Global
South group comprises Anglican churches in Bangladesh, Burundi, Central
Africa, South India, Congo, the Indian Ocean, Jerusalem and the Middle
East, Kenya, Myanmar, Nigeria, the Philippines, Rwanda, southern Africa,
Southeast Asia, southern South America, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, West
Africa and the West Indies.
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