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The Canadian Primate, Archbishop Fred Hiltz, said he witnessed “great hope” during his annual visit to the Iglesia Episcopal de Cuba, Feb. 3 to 10. He and a delegation of Canadian staff attended the church’s diocesan synod in Havana, and then visited several parishes in the central eastern part of Cuba.
Keira Constable remembers when she first felt the need to fight against injustice. She was four years old and her aunt had introduced her to a Rwandan university student who escaped the 1994 genocide. The student told her that in Rwanda, people were killing other people because they belonged to a certain group.
Today, the world has witnessed the resignation of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. Behind that historic moment lie 18 days of protest on the part of the people of Egypt gathered in person and in spirit in Tahrir Square in Cairo. Christians and Muslims have stood and prayed together for change. Today’s events are a manifestation of the people’s hope for democracy. We pray that the military, into whose hands power has now passed will honour that hope. As a number of world leaders have said the ultimate shape of the future of Egypt lies in the hearts and hands of the people themselves. Already they have demonstrated to the world that positive change can come through, patient and prayerful protest rather than vicious, vigilant and vile acts of violence.
First, I would like to thank you so much for your prayers, phone calls, and messages from around the world that you have sent in the last few days. I want you to know that these meant a lot to me personally and to your brothers and sisters in the church here.
Thank you for the steadfastness of your prayers by which you upheld the Primates and Moderators of the churches of the Anglican Communion in their recent meeting at the Emmaus Center in Dublin, Ireland.
The Archbishop of the Province of the West Indies has announced that his Province has adopted the Anglican Communion Covenant. It is the third to do so officially, the others being the Anglican Church of Mexico and The Church of the Province of Myanmar.
The Archbishop of Canterbury Dr. Rowan Williams said that the outcomes of the Primates’ Meeting in Ireland had met his “chief hopes” for the week.
On the final day of the Primates’ Meeting in Dublin, Primates discussed the content of final documents that had been prepared over the week. They began with reviewing the first draft of a working document on the proposed purpose and scope of the Primates’ Meeting. They then reviewed other documents-letters and statements-covering a range of international issues.
“Improve and enliven communications”—this was one of five practices proposed by the Anglican Church of Canada’s strategic plan, Vision 2019. One way General Synod is living out this mission is by launching a cleaner and clearer look for the national website, www.anglican.ca.
Today’s meeting moved from the work of reflecting on the exercise of primacy and the purpose and nature of the Primates’ Meeting, to considering the role, purpose and composition of the Standing Committee of the Primates. In addition to attending the Anglican Consultative Council (ACC) and the Standing Committee, other roles suggested for the committee by Primates included “holding” the life, vision and spirit of the meeting between the Primates’ Meetings; helping to shape their future meetings; and acting as a consultative group for the Archbishop of Canterbury. Several groups also suggested that the Primates’ Standing Committee might have an ongoing bridging role between the Primates’ Meeting and the regions from where the Primates come.
The day began with a presentation on the work of The Inter-Anglican Standing Commission for Unity, Faith and Order (IASCUFO). Chairman of the commission, Archbishop of Burundi the Most Revd Bernard Ntahoturi, reminded the group that IASCUFO is a commission set up following a resolution at the 14th Anglican Consultative Council, endorsed by the Primates’ Meeting. It is a combination of two former commissions: the Inter-Anglican Standing Commission on Ecumenical Relations (IASCER) and the Inter-Anglican Theological and Doctrinal Commission (IATDC), and it has also picked up the work of the Windsor Continuation Group.
Archbishop Hiltz, Primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, attended the Anglican Communion Primates’ Meeting in Dublin, Ireland, from Jan. 25 to 31, 2011. All 38 Primates were invited to the meeting, a regular gathering that was established in 1978 by Archbishop Donald Coggan (101st archbishop of Canterbury) as a time for “leisurely thought, prayer … Continued
The Anglican Church of Canada’s long-time partner, the Church Council on Justice and Corrections (CCJC), has criticized a federal plan that would increase prison capacity and rates of incarceration. CCJC has prepared an information packet for churches and is encouraging all Canadians to consider the implications of this plan.
On day three of the meeting, Primates of the Anglican Communion began to more closely consider ‘primacy’. In small groups they discussed their understanding and experience of the theology and practice of primacy in their Provinces, at the Regional level and at the Communion level. The purpose of the morning was to share in plenary the differences and similarities of primacy in the Provinces of the Communion.
The 18th Primates’ Meeting of the Anglican Communion opened in Dublin on Tuesday evening in an atmosphere of prayer and purpose. After a welcome and introduction, the Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams asked those present to hold in their hearts and prayers those Primates unable to attend. He also pointed out that at least a third of the Primates in Dublin were at their first Primates’ Meeting.