Not so fast ... Lord Carey challenges Kenneth Kearon's media statements

BB NOTE: Lord Carey, Archbishop of Canterbury prior to Rowan Williams, has written a letter to the Church of England Newspaper where he takes on Kenneth Kearon, Anglican Communion Secretary, regarding his recent statements justifying the current withholding of Lambeth Invites to the CANA and AMiA bishops. Oops.

Sir,

Kenneth Kearon suggests (CEN May 25) that the decision not to invite AMiA bishops, or the recently consecrated CANA Bishop, to the Lambeth Conference relates to a precedent I set in 2000…

…This, of course, was before 2003 when the Episcopal Church clearly signalled its abandonment of Communion norms, in spite of warnings from the Primates that the consecration of a practising homosexual bishop would ‘tear the fabric of the Communion’. It is not too much to say that everything has changed in the Anglican Communion as a result of the consecration of Gene Robinson.

The Archbishop of Canterbury’s prerogative to invite bishops to the Conference is a lonely, personal and important task. Before each Conference a number of careful decisions have to be taken, with the focus being on the well-being of the Communion. The circumstances facing each Archbishop of Canterbury will vary according to the needs of the hour.

For these reasons, I believe, that Dr Rowan Williams should not regard the advice he has evidently received that this matter is ‘fixed’ as necessarily binding on him in the very different circumstances of 2007.

Tip of the Tinfoil Hat to Thinking Anglicans.

LATER: The full text of Lord Carey is here at Anglican Mainstream.