Per Christum Catholic Blog

I haven’t had the time to follow all the “breaking news” in the Anglican Communion these last few days, but it seems that conservatives have been dealt a huge blow at the big meeting of the Anglican Primates in Tanzania. If the celebrating on the liberal blogs, and the complaining and sadness on the conservative blogs (here too), are any indication, I am right. Apparently an important subcommittee, consisting of a conservative Primate and the Archbishop of Canterbury himself, and some others, has said that the Episcopal church really is mostly in compliance with the Windsor Report. For those unfamiliar with the situation, the Windsor Report basically laid out what the Episcopal church should do to correct the harm it has done to the Anglican Communion with the consecration of Gene Robinson as bishop. Also, the claims that the Episcopal Presiding Bishop Katherine Schori wouldn’t be seated with the other primates due to her views, and that she would be ignored, etc, didn’t come to pass either. She was seated as a full Primate.

Now the Primates meeting isn’t over, and there could be more developments, but this does seem to be a major blow to Anglican traditionalists. You can just sense the deep disappointment on conservative blogs (and yes, I read a variety of blogs). Again, let me repeat, this blog entry could be completely wrong, and the Primates that are meeting in Tanzania may just shrug off this report and create a new Anglican province in America, effectively kicking the Episcopal church out of the Anglican Communion, what many conservative Anglicans really want. Of course, we have heard these promises before in 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2006, but maybe 2007 is the year!

Let me be frank and ask an honest question. When have the processes and commissions of the Anglican Communion ever actually come through in a concrete way in favor of conservatives in the last 20 years? Ever since General Convention 2003, when Gene Robinson was consecrated bishop, we have heard about the next major event when “realignment” would occur, about the next line in the sand when the Primates would act, and so forth. Each time, nothing concrete has materialized for the so-called reasserters. Parishes are being sued, priests deposed, and nothing has happened, unless of course more commissions and ambiguous statements count as “something.” Honestly, I don’t think the Anglican Communion has the structures or authority, or even the will, to discipline anybody, unless the local province takes the lead. Anglicanism is just not set up like the Catholic Church in that all the Anglicans in Africa can’t make the Episcopal church do anything it doesn’t want to do. And the Episcopal church has the right to do exactly what it wants to do, even if it is the equivalent to giving the rest of the Anglican Communion the finger. Again, I may be wrong, but where is the proof that I am wrong (and strong words and new study groups don’t count)?

What is the AA definition of insanity? Doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results. I ask the following question as one who basically once was a “reasserter Anglican”: Are “reasserter” Anglicans insane by this definition?

I think whatever happens, we should pray for our brothers and sisters in the Anglican Communion. It has been a rough period for those on all sides.