Anglican Primate announces retirement

Archbishop Andrew Hutchison, Primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, has announced that he will retire next year following General Synod and the election of a successor.

Archbishop Hutchison, who was elected Primate at the last General Synod in St. Catharines, Ont., in 2004, made the announcement at a meeting of the Canadian House of Bishops in Niagara Falls, Ont., after privately notifying the four Canadian Metropolitan Archbishops of his decision.

He reminded the bishops that he had said right after his election in June, 2004, that his would be a one-triennium primacy. (General Synod meets every three years.) Since then, he said, there have been discussions about whether or not that term of office should be extended. But “despite a good deal of urging for me to do so, I believe the best answer is for me to stick to my original statement,” he said. the rest