Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby
• Archbishop of Canterbury holds virtual meeting with Ghanaian Anglican Church leadership
• Rev. Justin Welby says he holds no authority over the church in Ghana
• Ghana Anglican Church throws support behind anti LGBTQ+ draft bill
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, said he has apologized to the leadership of the Anglican Church of Ghana for failing to consult them before passing criticism on their position on the anti-LGBTQ draft bill.
Expressing concern over the new bill currently before the Parliament of Ghana, Rev. Welby in a statement shared on October 26, 2021, decried the support of the Anglican Church of Ghana for the bill saying “the majority of Anglicans within the global Anglican Communion are committed to upholding both the traditional teaching on marriage as laid out in the 1998 Lambeth Conference Resolution I:10 and the rights of every person, regardless of sexual orientation, before the law.”
Following a virtual meeting with the Ghanaian Anglican Church leadership on the matter, the archbishop in a statement said he should have dialogued with his Ghanaian counterparts before his previous statement.
“On 3rd November, I met online with the Anglican Archbishop of Ghana, the Most Revd. Cyril Kobina Ben-Smith, and several bishops and senior clergy from the Anglican Church of Ghana. We discussed their response to the draft Bill that is before the Ghanaian parliament, aimed at strengthening family life but including within its provision for the criminalisation of many LGBTQI+ people.
“I welcomed this conversation, which should have happened before my previous statement. That is not mere diplomacy: Christ commands us to speak directly and prayerfully with our brothers and sisters. I apologised for failing to do so,” his latest statement dated November 12, 2021, said.
While stating the collective position of the Anglican Church on matters of sexuality, the Archbishop noted that he wields no authority over the Church in Ghana.
“We affirmed that the 1998 Lambeth Conference Resolution 1.10 represents the last and most widely accepted statement by the Anglican Communion on the question of human sexuality.
“We agreed that all human beings are made in God’s image and are worthy of love, respect and dignity, and that the Church of Jesus Christ is called to demonstrate the love of God by protecting all vulnerable people and communities.
“This was a conversation between equals: I have no authority over the Church of Ghana, nor would I want any. I say that partly because of Britain’s colonial history in Ghana, but also because of the very nature of the Anglican Communion. We are a global family of churches who are autonomous but interdependent: a holy, catholic, apostolic Church bound together by history, sacraments, liturgy, and the love of Jesus Christ for each and every person,” the statement said.
The Archbishop stated that his meeting with the Ghanaian bishops concluded that despite human dignity being paramount, there is always the need to consider it in a cultural, social, and historical context.
“One of the key conclusions of the meeting is that human dignity is always paramount, and that cultural, social and historical contexts must also be considered and understood.
“I encourage continued good conversation with the Anglican Church of Ghana, with the same courteous but clear and robust conversation as I experienced, ahead of any future public statements,” the archbishop said.
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