Orombi criticises Canterbury elections

LONDON - The Archbishop of Uganda described the process by which the leader of the world’s Anglicans is selected as a “remnant of British colonialism”.

In an article in The London Times yesterday, he was defending his church’s decision not to attend the Lambeth Conference.

Archbishop Henry Luke Orombi wrote that the US Episcopal Church, which sparked the fury of conservative Anglicans throughout the world when it consecrated an openly gay bishop in 2003, “must show repentance and regret before we can share communion with them”.

Orombi lamented the fact that the Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams is not even elected by his peers.
“Even the Pope is elected by his peers, but what Anglicans have is a man appointed by a secular government,” he wrote.

“Over the past five years, we have come to see this as a remnant of British colonialism, and it is not serving us well.

Orombi wrote that the Episcopal Church’s decision to consecrate Gene Robinson five years ago “disregarded Biblical authority by violating clear Biblical teaching against homosexual behaviour.”

“How can we go to Holy Communion, sit in Bible study groups and share meals together, pretending that everything is okay, that we are still in fellowship with the persistent violators of Biblical teaching and of Lambeth resolutions?” he wrote.

“The Archbishop of Canterbury has asked us to ‘wait for each other’. But how is this possible when we are not travelling in the same direction?”

The Lambeth Conference, which started last week and runs to August 3, brings together around 650 bishops from around the world — but it has been overshadowed by divisions.