Primates from across the Anglican Communion arrived today
They have gathered at the Emmaus Retreat and Conference Centre in Dublin for the first day of their six-day Primates’ Meeting.
The Primates, who are the senior bishops or archbishops of a province of the Anglican family of churches, were invited from all 38 Provinces. The Archbishop of York, John Sentamu, was also invited to allow the Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams to fulfil his role as the President of the meeting.
Several Primates, including Archbishop Maurício José Araújo de Andrade Primate of Brazil & Bishop of Brasilia, said they were looking forward to a positive meeting.
“It is important that in this meeting dialogue continues between the different parts of the Anglican Communion,” he said. “If it is possible to sit together with different ecumenical and interfaith partners, how much more do we need to continue to sit down and dialogue with bishops from other parts of the Communion.”
The Dean of the Province of Central Africa, Bishop Albert Chama* said he believed God would enable the Primates to remain in unity and to love one another as the body of Christ.
“My hope is that in this meeting we will be able to continue the conversations that have been happening in terms of pulling the Communion together,” he said. “It is my hope that our meeting will be fruitful and that we will continue to discuss matters with openness and we will be able to listen to one another.”
Barring any last minute changes, 24 Primates are able to attend the meeting. As anticipated, some were unable to attend because of health reasons, others for personal reasons and a few because of issues in their Provinces, such as the referendum in Sudan.
By ACNS staff