IRD: Presiding Bishop's Letter against CANA Installation Adds Insult to Injury

“A battle currently is raging for the soul of the Anglican Communion.” —IRD Director of Anglican Action Ralph Webb

Washington, DC—On Saturday, May 5, the Rt. Rev. Martyn Minns is scheduled to be installed as missionary bishop of the Convocation of Anglicans in North America (CANA). CANA is a missionary arm of the Church of Nigeria for Nigerian Anglicans in the United States and other orthodox Anglicans who cannot in good conscience remain in the Episcopal Church. In a letter dated April 30, Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori asked Church of Nigeria Archbishop Peter Akinola not to proceed with the installation of Bishop Minns.

IRD Director of Anglican Action Ralph Webb commented,

Presiding Bishop Jefferts Schori’s letter, coming as it does just a few days before Bishop Minns’ installation, cannot be a serious attempt to stop the installation. Instead, it just restates what has already been known—that the Episcopal Church objects to the installation and, indeed, the very presence of CANA in the United States. She insultingly charges that the installation will jettison Anglican tradition, set back reconciliation efforts, and only contribute to division—actions that the Episcopal Church is guilty of many times over in its stances taken toward the Anglican Communion. the rest