O, Canada!

[dsdrane]

The Canadian Anglican Primate, ++Andrew Hutchinson, has some choice words for the ABC:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/04/10/nchurch10.xml

[Bearnabas]

Hey, I'm glad there is some support for American Bishops, who looked to be on their own in this very public scolding of the American Diocese by the African Primates. I'm glad that Canada is it. They are more an ally for the GLBT community than people realize--in some ways, they seem like a goal for America to reach in their religious community...

Not to say there aren't still pockets of evangelical resistance even in Canada.

But the fact that Hutchinson is willing to pull away from the church ahead of the expulsion of the Americans signals that they are making the expulsion a positive thing, and taking control, rather than allowing it to be a punishment.

I think the Americans should meet with the Canadians post haste. And I think that Hutchinson is right--why hasn't the Archbishop of Cantebury met with the Americans yet?

[Diane Vera]

Anglicans facing schism:
Bishops in U.S. reject demands to end their support for gay marriages, clergy
Mar 22, 2007
by Stuart Laidlaw, Faith and Ethics Reporter
Toronto Star (http://www.thestar.com/News/article/194795)

This article includes the following about the Anglican Church of Canada:

Archbishop Rowan Williams is already planning a meeting in Canada next month with Canadian bishops ahead of the church's general synod in Winnipeg in late June.

The Anglican Church of Canada is moving closer to blessing same-sex relationships and will put forward a plan this summer to allow local dioceses to decide for themselves whether to accept such unions. The proposal, if approved at the synod, would put Canadian Anglicans on a collision course with the majority of the church worldwide.

"It's not going to be an easy time at general synod," said Michael Pollesel, general secretary of the Anglican Church of Canada.

Church leaders planning the June synod decided by a near-unanimous vote earlier this month to put forward a resolution that there are no core Anglican doctrines preventing the blessing of same-sex unions. To become church policy, that decision will have to be approved by a 60 per cent margin.

The group also decided to put forward a resolution in Winnipeg allowing a local option on same-sex blessings, which had been tabled at the synod's last meeting in 2004. That vote will also require a 60 per cent majority. "At this point, nothing has really changed," Pollesel said.

But should the 300 delegates meeting in Winnipeg – roughly half of them clergy and half lay people – vote in favour of the resolution, the church will find itself at odds with the majority of international Anglicans, and risk facing sanctions similar to those imposed on the U.S. branch of the church last month.

Chris Ambidge, a spokesperson for Anglican gay rights group Integrity Canada, welcomed the church's moves.

"The church needs to come to some sort of decision," said Ambidge. He is not counting on the vote going in favour of same-sex blessings, however, and is worried that fears of splitting the church worldwide will cause some in Winnipeg to vote against the resolutions.

[Diane Vera]

Primates push U.S. on sexuality
Americans given deadline to comply
Marites N. Sison
Apr 1, 2007
Anglican Journal (http://www.anglicanjournal.com/issues/2007/133/apr/04/article/primates-push-us-on-sexuality/)

Mostly about the primates vs. the U.S. Episcopal Church, but includes the following about Canada:

Archbishop Andrew Hutchison, primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, said the primates’ ultimatum to the U.S. church was something that the Canadian church “will have to look at seriously.” He said that the Canadian church could face the same consequences “if it were to follow the same path” as the Episcopal Church. The U.S. church’s decision in 2003 to consecrate Gene Robinson, the openly-gay bishop of New Hampshire, has triggered near-schism in the Anglican Communion. “The

American church is in a different position than we are,” Archbishop Hutchison said in an interview. “It’s the ordination of Bishop Robinson that was the main issue that triggered all of these and we’re not in that situation in Canada. “Furthermore, in the United States, same-sex blessings is something that has happened in a number of dioceses across the country, In Canada, there’s only one diocese where that’s happened and we’re still in the middle of a conversation. So it’s hard to say what the implications might be.”

But he added, “I suppose that if Canada were to follow the same path, which would be a radical move in the same direction as the United States, then we might look forward to a similar kind of response.”

In a briefing, Archbishop Hutchison told national church staff that he had been “profoundly discouraged” by the communiqué and had found it “tempting” not to sign it. The communiqué had “virtually not one encouraging word for gay and lesbian people who have felt so far on the margins,” he said. But he said he agreed with U.S. Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori that not signing the communiqué would send a message to the church and to the world “that at great expense and effort, we have accomplished nothing and we have nothing to say.”

The primates’ message demonstrated “a great struggle to try and preserve some kind of unity within the Anglican family, but the question is, at what price?” said Archbishop Hutchison. He said this was something that Canadian Anglicans would have to consider when they decide on issues around sexuality at their General Synod, or national convention, in Winnipeg this June. He added that the Canadian church was not discussed at the meeting because it has yet to respond to the Windsor Report’s call for a moratorium on same-sex blessings.

[Diane Vera]

Religion: sticking their nose in
Special Feature Series Part III / Religion is treading where Caesar ought walk
by Krishna Rau
Thursday, March 15, 2007
Capital Xtra (http://www.xtra.ca/public/viewstory.aspx?AFF_TYPE=2&STORY_ID=2747&PUB_TEMPLATE_ID=5)

About Canada's religious right wing.

[Diane Vera]

Canada seems to be, for the most part, more liberal than the U.S.A., but nevertheless has a religious right wing, which consists not only of conservative Christians but also conservative adherents of various other religions, including Muslims and even Sikhs.

Regarding Sikhs in Canada, see:

World Sikh group against gay marriage bill, Tuesday, March 29, 2005, CBC News (http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2005/03/28/sikhguy-050328.html)
Sikh Clergy Clamping Down on Gay Marriages, About.com (http://atheism.about.com/b/a/142096.htm)