A Statement by the Primates of the Anglican Communion

The Primates of the Anglican Communion and the Moderators of the United Churches, meeting together at Lambeth Palace on the 15th and 16th October, 2003, wish to express our gratitude to the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, for calling us together in response to recent events in the Diocese of New Westminster, Canada, and the Episcopal Church (USA), and welcoming us into his home so that we might take counsel together, and to seek to discern, in an atmosphere of common prayer and worship, the will and guidance of the Holy Spirit for the common life of the thirty-eight provinces which constitute our Communion.

At a time of tension, we have struggled at great cost with the issues before us, but have also been renewed and strengthened in our Communion with one another through our worship and study of the Bible. This has led us into a deeper commitment to work together, and we affirm our pride in the Anglican inheritance of faith and order and our firm desire to remain part of a Communion, where what we hold in common is much greater than that which divides us in proclaiming Good News to the world.
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Posted: October 16, 2003 • Permanent link: ecu.net/?p=79
Categories: ACNS, Communiqué • In this article: Anglican Communion, human sexuality, Primates Meeting Transmis : 16 octobre 2003 • Lien permanente : ecu.net/?p=79
Catégorie : ACNS, Communiqué • Dans cet article : Anglican Communion, human sexuality, Primates Meeting

Archbishop of Canterbury’s statement at the final press conference of the Primates’ Meeting

Good evening everyone. Thank you very much for joining us. I hope you’ve had a chance, at least, to glance at the statement which has been produced by our meeting which has, in fact, been unanimously agreed by the meeting of the primates. And I’d like to offer a few words of introduction to this before we turn to questions.

It has been a very remarkable couple of days in the life of the Anglican Communion and it has certainly been anything but easy. It has not been without pain. But it has been honest and open and I hope that we have grown in some real shared understanding as a result. And I do want to take this opportunity of paying tribute to my colleagues in the Communion for all the dedication and the energy and steadfastness in Christian service that they show generally and that they have shown in these two demanding days.
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Posted: October 16, 2003 • Permanent link: ecu.net/?p=9322
Categories: ACNS • In this article: Anglican Communion, human sexuality, Primates Meeting Transmis : 16 octobre 2003 • Lien permanente : ecu.net/?p=9322
Catégorie : ACNS • Dans cet article : Anglican Communion, human sexuality, Primates Meeting

What happened at the Primates Meeting? A guide for our ecumenical partners

As you will know, the Primates of the Anglican Communion met together at Lambeth Palace on 15 and 16 October in response to recent developments within the Anglican Church of Canada and the Episcopal Church of the United States of America. These developments included the election of a priest in a committed same sex relationship as a bishop, and the authorisation by one diocese in Canada of a public Rite of Blessing for Same Sex Unions. In their Statement at the end of the meeting, the Primates said four main things – (a) they committed themselves to working together in the Communion as far as possible, (b) they reaffirmed the teaching of the Anglican Communion on sexual ethics, (c) they acknowledged that recent developments will damage the Communion, and (d) they established a commission to take matters further.
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Posted: October 17, 2003 • Permanent link: ecu.net/?p=9284
Categories: Opinion • In this article: Anglican Communion, Gregory Cameron, human sexuality, Primates Meeting Transmis : 17 octobre 2003 • Lien permanente : ecu.net/?p=9284
Catégorie : Opinion • Dans cet article : Anglican Communion, Gregory Cameron, human sexuality, Primates Meeting

Statement from the Primates of Nigeria, Southeast Asia, and Rwanda

It is with great gratitude to God and appreciation to the people of the Anglican Communion and other churches that we greet you in the name of Jesus Christ.

As we met this week at Lambeth we experienced the power of the Holy Spirit moving among us. We are so grateful to God for hearing the prayers and cries of his praying people to preserve both the truth and the unity of the Anglican Communion. We urge continued prayer that the whole Anglican Communion may continue by God’s power to witness to the transforming love of Jesus for all people.
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Posted: October 17, 2003 • Permanent link: ecu.net/?p=9327
Categories: ACNS • In this article: Anglican Communion, human sexuality, Primates Meeting Transmis : 17 octobre 2003 • Lien permanente : ecu.net/?p=9327
Catégorie : ACNS • Dans cet article : Anglican Communion, human sexuality, Primates Meeting

Press statements from Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold and Archbishop Drexel Gomez

At the final press conference at the end of the Primates’ Meeting yesterday, the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, USA, gave the following statement:

“I’d certainly like to underscore the Archbishop’s point about it being a difficult but truthful meeting. I think one thing that became very clear early on is that we seek to embody and proclaim the Gospel in very different contexts and what may, in fact, be good news to a majority in one province may, in fact, be bad news somewhere else in the world. And here I think particularly of my own province, the United States in which a majority, though not the whole province, has wrestled with the whole question of homosexuality for at least the last 30 years and come to a sense that men and women whose affections are ordered to members of the same sex are faithful members of the church; are people with whom we share ministry; are people we in many instances ordain, which of course has led to the confirmation of the election of the Bishop Elect of New Hampshire, which has caused such a division and certainly been one of the major focuses of our meeting here. But I do think what binds us together is deeper than some of the things that divide us and certainly the whole question of human sexuality; more particularly homosexuality; is far from settled and as we continue to struggle together I think it’s also important, as the Archbishop said, that we keep our focus on the mission we share because there is so much in the world that cries out for our attention beyond issues of human sexuality.
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Posted: October 17, 2003 • Permanent link: ecu.net/?p=9350
Categories: ACNS, Communiqué • In this article: Anglican Communion, Episcopal Church, human sexuality, Primates Meeting Transmis : 17 octobre 2003 • Lien permanente : ecu.net/?p=9350
Catégorie : ACNS, Communiqué • Dans cet article : Anglican Communion, Episcopal Church, human sexuality, Primates Meeting

Statement from the Diocese of New Hampshire

he Bishop and Standing Committee of the Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire met today in response to the London meeting of the Primates from the 38 autonomous Provinces of the worldwide Anglican Communion for prayer, bible study and discussion. We acknowledge and affirm the wisdom of the Primates of the Anglican Communion in their statement. We echo their affirmation that “what we hold in common is much greater than that which divides us in proclaiming Good News to the world.”

We commend their resolve to follow the 1998 Lambeth resolution calling for the Church to “listen to the experience of homosexual persons, and … to assure them that they are loved by God and that all baptised, believing and faithful persons, regardless of sexual orientation, are full members of the Body of Christ.”
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Posted: October 17, 2003 • Permanent link: ecu.net/?p=9325
Categories: ACNS • In this article: Anglican Communion, Episcopal Church, human sexuality, Primates Meeting Transmis : 17 octobre 2003 • Lien permanente : ecu.net/?p=9325
Catégorie : ACNS • Dans cet article : Anglican Communion, Episcopal Church, human sexuality, Primates Meeting

For the Primates of the Anglican Communion from Bishop Griswold

I returned home from our meeting at Lambeth grateful for the spirit of candor in which we shared our thoughts and feelings. I thank God for the opportunity to come together in Christ’s name and for the strong bonds and mutual affection that exist between us. I pray that our common commitment to mission and God’s ongoing work of reconciliation will continue to bind us together in Christ in the days and years ahead. I remind myself that the church is not our possession but the risen body of Christ of which each one of us is a limb and member in virtue of our baptism.

As I tried to make plain in the course of our meeting, we in the Episcopal Church have been dealing openly with the place of homosexual persons in the life of our church for at least thirty years. Though the question still remains unresolved, the presence among us of deeply faithful men and women whose lives reveal the fruit of the Spirit, and whose primary affections are ordered to persons of the same sex, has brought us to this difficult, and very public, moment. I recognize that while many in our church give thanks for where we have come, many others are deeply pained and distressed. I further recognize how our decisions have also affected you and I hope you know how profoundly I regret the pain our Province’s action has caused many of you.
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Posted: October 24, 2003 • Permanent link: ecu.net/?p=9265
Categories: ACNS, Communiqué • In this article: Anglican Communion, Episcopal Church, human sexuality, Primates Meeting Transmis : 24 octobre 2003 • Lien permanente : ecu.net/?p=9265
Catégorie : ACNS, Communiqué • Dans cet article : Anglican Communion, Episcopal Church, human sexuality, Primates Meeting

Anglican Communion – Commission announced

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, has announced the makeup and the terms of reference for a Commission to look at life in the Anglican Communion in the light of recent events. It is to be made up of members appointed by the Archbishop of Canterbury and will be chaired by the Most Revd Robin Eames, Archbishop of Armagh.

The Commission, which is expected to begin its work early in the New Year, was formed as a result of a request from the recent Primates meeting at Lambeth Palace to the Archbishop of Canterbury. It will take particular account of the decision to authorise a service for use in connection with same sex unions in the Diocese of New Westminster, Canada, and the expected Consecration of the Revd Canon V Gene Robinson as Bishop Co-adjutor of New Hampshire in the Episcopal Church (USA) on Sunday, November 2nd.
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Posted: October 28, 2003 • Permanent link: ecu.net/?p=9335
Categories: ACNS, Communiqué • In this article: Anglican Communion, human sexuality, Lambeth Commission Transmis : 28 octobre 2003 • Lien permanente : ecu.net/?p=9335
Catégorie : ACNS, Communiqué • Dans cet article : Anglican Communion, human sexuality, Lambeth Commission

Al Azhar Agreement enhanced by Cambridge visit

The visit to Ridley Hall Theological College, Cambridge, England by Shaykh Fawzy El-Zafzaf, President of the Committee for Dialogue with the Monotheistic Faiths of Al Azhar, the renowned Islamic university and Centre in Cairo, Egypt, marks a significant new development in the building of relations between the Anglican Communion and Al Azhar.

As part of the agreement signed by Archbishop Carey, then Archbishop of Canterbury, and Shaykh Tantawy, the Grand Shaykh of Al Azhar in January 2002, the two parties committed themselves not only to regular ‘dialogue’ meetings, but also to find other ways in which they might learn more about the faith of each other. It was agreed to seek to establish reciprocal study visits in which staff and students of Al Azhar would spend time at Anglican theological institutions, and Anglican theologians and theological students would similarly visit Al Azhar. Shaykh Fawzy’s visit to Ridley Hall, 5-11 October 2003, during which he was accompanied by Bishop Mouneer Anis, the Anglican Bishop of Egypt and North Africa will, it is hoped, prove to be the first of a number of such exchanges.
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Posted: November 4, 2003 • Permanent link: ecu.net/?p=9331
Categories: ACNS • In this article: Al-Azhar, Anglican Communion, interfaith Transmis : 4 novembre 2003 • Lien permanente : ecu.net/?p=9331
Catégorie : ACNS • Dans cet article : Al-Azhar, Anglican Communion, interfaith

Communiqué of the Anglican-Oriental Orthodox International Commission

The meeting of the Anglican-Oriental Orthodox International Commission, which was to have taken place at Walsingham from Tuesday 28 October to Sunday 2 November 2003, has been postponed at the suggestion of the Heads of the Coptic Orthodox Church (His Holiness Pope Shenouda III), the Syrian Orthodox Church (His Holiness Patriarch Zakka I) and the Armenian Orthodox Church, Catholicosate of Cilicia (His Holiness Catholicos Aram I), who met in Antelias, Lebanon, on 17 and 18 October 2003.

The present time is clearly a moment of uncertainty in the life of the Anglican Communion, with the consecration of a homosexual person in a committed, same-sex relationship as a Bishop within the Episcopal Church (USA). The developments facing the Communion were addressed in the Statement of the Primates of the Anglican Communion who met together with the Moderators of the United Churches at Lambeth Palace, London, on 15 and 16 October, to consider their reactions and the way forward for the Communion. In the light of that meeting, the Archbishop of Canterbury has set up a Commission which will look at the future structures of the Communion in the light of decisions taken in the Episcopal Church (USA) and in the Anglican Church of Canada.
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Posted: November 17, 2003 • Permanent link: ecu.net/?p=9333
Categories: ACNS, Communiqué • In this article: Anglican Communion, dialogue, human sexuality, Oriental Orthodox Transmis : 17 novembre 2003 • Lien permanente : ecu.net/?p=9333
Catégorie : ACNS, Communiqué • Dans cet article : Anglican Communion, dialogue, human sexuality, Oriental Orthodox

Statement by the Primate of Central Africa on the Windsor Report 2004

I welcome the publication of the Windsor Report. I was privileged to be part of the Lambeth Commission, and despite some very honest exchanges, we were able to come together as a Commission to offer what I believe represents a genuine way forward for the future of the Anglican Communion.

The report we have agreed now offers to our brothers and sisters in Christ very real ways in which we could begin to strengthen our common life in the Lord, and to strengthen the workings of the Instruments of Unity so that they will be able to function more effectively in drawing our forty-four churches into greater interdependence and mutual life.
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Posted: October 18, 2004 • Permanent link: ecu.net/?p=9343
Categories: ACNS, Communiqué • In this article: Anglican Communion, human sexuality, Lambeth Commission Transmis : 18 octobre 2004 • Lien permanente : ecu.net/?p=9343
Catégorie : ACNS, Communiqué • Dans cet article : Anglican Communion, human sexuality, Lambeth Commission

Letter from Archbishop Eames to the Archbishop of Canterbury on the Windsor Report 2004

I have the honour to submit to you the Report of the Lambeth Commission on Communion, entitled ‘The Windsor Report 2004′. In the last twelve months, we have laboured hard and prayerfully listened to all shades of opinion across the Anglican Communion, and have been able to come to a common mind on a diagnosis for the current situation in the life of the Communion, and the remedies which could be offered.

We have made a remarkable journey. The Commission members had strongly held and differing opinions on both the presenting issues and their underlying causes, and we have not been afraid to discuss those views openly and honestly in our work. But equal to all of this is our central belief that the forty-four churches of the Anglican Communion belong together in witness and common mission for the sake of the Gospel, and this has helped us to develop a set of unanimous recommendations.
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Posted: October 18, 2004 • Permanent link: ecu.net/?p=9337
Categories: ACNS, Communiqué • In this article: Anglican Communion, human sexuality, Lambeth Commission Transmis : 18 octobre 2004 • Lien permanente : ecu.net/?p=9337
Catégorie : ACNS, Communiqué • Dans cet article : Anglican Communion, human sexuality, Lambeth Commission

Statement on the Windsor Report 2004 from the Primate of All Nigeria

I welcome the sincerity and hard work of those who have prepared ‘The Windsor Report 2004‘. After an initial reading it is clear to me that the report falls far short of the prescription needed for this current crisis. It fails to confront the reality that a small, economically privileged group of people has sought to subvert the Christian faith and impose their new and false doctrine on the wider community of faithful believers. We have watched in sadness as sisters and brothers who have sought to maintain their allegiance to the faith once delivered to the saints have been marginalized and persecuted for their faith. We have been filled with grief as we have witnessed the decline of the North American Church that was once filled with missionary zeal and yet now seems determined to bury itself in a deadly embrace with the spirit of the age. Instead of a clear call for repentance we have been offered warm words of sentimentality for those who have shown no godly sorrow for their actions and harsh words of condemnation for those who have reached out a helping hand to friends in need of pastoral and spiritual care.
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Posted: October 20, 2004 • Permanent link: ecu.net/?p=9341
Categories: ACNS, Communiqué • In this article: Anglican Communion, human sexuality, Lambeth Commission, Peter Akinola Transmis : 20 octobre 2004 • Lien permanente : ecu.net/?p=9341
Catégorie : ACNS, Communiqué • Dans cet article : Anglican Communion, human sexuality, Lambeth Commission, Peter Akinola

Statement by the Primates’ Standing Committee on the Windsor Report 2004

The Primates’ Standing Committee, meeting in London, between 18 and 20 October, 2004, received the Windsor Report at the same time that copies of the report were circulated to the Primates at 9.00am prior to its publication at 12 noon here in London.

We would like to begin by thanking Archbishop Robin Eames and his Commission, together with the staff who supported them, for the hard work and dedication which is represented by this document. The Commission members came from a wide range of geographical backgrounds, and brought many different perspectives to their work. That they have been able to commend this report unanimously to the members of the Anglican Communion is a sign of hope to our Communion. If there is a real desire to walk together in our discipleship of Christ, then a course can be plotted to maintain the highest degree of Communion possible, in spite of differences about the way in which Christ’s Gospel is to be interpreted in a diverse and troubled world.
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Posted: October 20, 2004 • Permanent link: ecu.net/?p=9339
Categories: ACNS, Communiqué • In this article: Anglican Communion, human sexuality, Lambeth Commission Transmis : 20 octobre 2004 • Lien permanente : ecu.net/?p=9339
Catégorie : ACNS, Communiqué • Dans cet article : Anglican Communion, human sexuality, Lambeth Commission

Details of Windsor Report Reception Process announced

The Most Revd Peter Kwong, Primate of Hong Kong, today released the first details of the reception process being adopted by the Reception Reference Group appointed by the Archbishop of Canterbury in conjunction with the Primates’ Standing Committee on the 20 October this year, following the publication of the Windsor Report 2004 in London on 18 October.

Full details will be placed on the Anglican Communion web site in the coming week.

“There will be three major threads to the process that the group are adopting”, the Archbishop commented, “First, we shall be using the official channels of the Anglican Communion to undertake consultation with the provinces and churches of the Anglican Communion, its official commissions and networks. This will also include approaches to Anglican mission agencies and ecumenical partners.”
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Posted: November 5, 2004 • Permanent link: ecu.net/?p=9348
Categories: ACNS, Communiqué • In this article: Anglican Communion, Windsor Process Transmis : 5 novembre 2004 • Lien permanente : ecu.net/?p=9348
Catégorie : ACNS, Communiqué • Dans cet article : Anglican Communion, Windsor Process

Episcopal Church of Burundi statement on the Windsor Report

The Episcopal Church of Burundi wishes to express appreciation for the Windsor Report, and to congratulate the Lambeth Commission that produced it. It is an interesting, coherent, and sensitive report that challenges the Communion to dialogue constructively as a way forward.

The Episcopal Church of Burundi remains totally committed to the Anglican Communion and will continue to endeavour to “keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:3). We should always be mindful of the Gospel imperative to maintain unity and communion that is rooted in truth and love.
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Posted: November 12, 2004 • Permanent link: ecu.net/?p=9346
Categories: ACNS, Communiqué • In this article: Anglican Communion, human sexuality, Lambeth Commission Transmis : 12 novembre 2004 • Lien permanente : ecu.net/?p=9346
Catégorie : ACNS, Communiqué • Dans cet article : Anglican Communion, human sexuality, Lambeth Commission

Winds of change

Rather than be split by a much-trumpeted schism,the Anglican Communion emerged from its meeting in Tanzania this week as a new kind of twenty-first century Church, reflecting changes in ecclesial and geopolitical power

Will the Anglican Communion survive? Before the Primates’ Meeting in Africa this week there was much discussion of schism, and an atmosphere of crisis prevailed. At the heart of the problem is how Anglicans reconcile the value they place on diocesan and provincial structure of autonomy at the national level with the legitimacy given to a comprehensive range of practices and positions with the bonds of ecclesial communion that allow the Communion coherence as one effective, united, interdependent worldwide body of Christians. Given that, what does the Anglican Communion mean? Is it a fellowship of independent national churches with historical roots in the Church of England that worship through a provincial expression of the Book of Common Prayer, or is it a hierarchical system with the Archbishop of Canterbury at the top as a sort of mini-Pope?
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Posted: February 24, 2007 • Permanent link: ecu.net/?p=6714
Categories: The Tablet • In this article: Anglican Communion, Christian unity, human sexuality, Rowan Williams Transmis : 24 février 2007 • Lien permanente : ecu.net/?p=6714
Catégorie : The Tablet • Dans cet article : Anglican Communion, Christian unity, human sexuality, Rowan Williams

Through many dangers,toils and snares …

When Catholic cardinals meet in conclave they tend to do so under the stern eye of God in the Sistine Chapel. Anglican primates are different; this past week they have been meeting privately in the agreeable surroundings of a beach-front hotel overlooking the shimmering Indian Ocean just outside Dar es Salaam. Where the cardinals have Swiss Guards to protect them, the Anglicans have enjoyed what we journalists took to calling satirically the ring of steel: a group of young askari cadets, dressed in white shirts and black berets, who nervously fingered their truncheons when anyone approached.
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Posted: February 24, 2007 • Permanent link: ecu.net/?p=6712
Categories: The Tablet • In this article: Anglican Communion, Christian unity, human sexuality, Rowan Williams Transmis : 24 février 2007 • Lien permanente : ecu.net/?p=6712
Catégorie : The Tablet • Dans cet article : Anglican Communion, Christian unity, human sexuality, Rowan Williams

GAFCON Final Statement

The Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON), which was held in Jerusalem from 22-29 June 2008, is a spiritual movement to preserve and promote the truth and power of the gospel of salvation in Jesus Christ as we Anglicans have received it. The movement is global: it has mobilised Anglicans from around the world. We are Anglican: 1148 lay and clergy participants, including 291 bishops representing millions of faithful Anglican Christians. We cherish our Anglican heritage and the Anglican Communion and have no intention of departing from it. And we believe that, in God’s providence, Anglicanism has a bright future in obedience to our Lord’s Great Commission to make disciples of all nations and to build up the church on the foundation of biblical truth (Matthew 28:18-20; Ephesians 2:20). GAFCON is not just a moment in time, but a movement in the Spirit, and we hereby:

• launch the GAFCON movement as a fellowship of confessing Anglicans
• publish the Jerusalem Declaration as the basis of the fellowship
• encourage GAFCON Primates to form a Council.
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Posted: June 29, 2008 • Permanent link: ecu.net/?p=475
Categories: Communiqué, News • In this article: Anglican Communion, GAFCON, human sexuality Transmis : 29 juin 2008 • Lien permanente : ecu.net/?p=475
Catégorie : Communiqué, News • Dans cet article : Anglican Communion, GAFCON, human sexuality

ABC’s Pastoral Letter to the Anglican Communion

As the Lambeth Conference of 2008 comes to an end, I want to offer some further reflections of my own on what the bishops gathered in Canterbury have learned and experienced. Those of you who have been present here will be able to share your own insights with your people, but it may be useful for me to add my own perspectives as to where we have been led. For the vast majority of bishops, it seems, this has been a time when they have felt God to have been at work. The Conference was not a time for making new laws or for binding decisions; in spite of the way some have expressed their expectations, Lambeth Conferences have never worked straightforwardly in this way. The Conference Design Group believed strongly that the chief need of our Communion at the moment was the rebuilding of relationships – the rebuilding of trust in one another – and of confidence in our Anglican identity. And it was with this in mind that they planned for a very different sort of Conference, determined to allow every bishop’s voice to be heard and to seek for a final outcome for which the bishops were genuinely able to recognize an authentic account of their own work.
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Posted: August 26, 2008 • Permanent link: ecu.net/?p=487
Categories: ACNS, Opinion • In this article: Anglican Communion, Lambeth Conference, Rowan Williams Transmis : 26 aoüt 2008 • Lien permanente : ecu.net/?p=487
Catégorie : ACNS, Opinion • Dans cet article : Anglican Communion, Lambeth Conference, Rowan Williams