Ozschwitz: Anglican mystics at each others throat; Aspinall warns Jensen

THE head of the Australian Anglican Church, Phillip Aspinall, has warned a breakaway conservative faction that its members risked a legal battle if they tried to overstep the laws of the church.

Speaking on ABC Radio last night, Dr Aspinall said he was saddened by the rift and disappointed by the Sydney Archbishop's boycott of the forthcoming meeting of church leaders at Lambeth, and said the rebels' actions added to "confusion and chaos" in the church.

With less than a week until the arrival of the Pope, he also expressed reservations about new police powers to fine people considered to be annoying World Youth Day pilgrims.

"I think we should only restrict the individual freedoms of people … when there's a very good reason … so I would have some concern about some of the reports I've heard about the laws. I think perhaps inadvertently trying to contain things too tightly may well provoke an opposite reaction."

The Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans was formed last week to create a rival primate's council and support bishops of breakaway congregations who disagree with the US church's liberal stand on homosexual clergy and same-sex blessings. Peter Jensen, the Archbishop of Sydney, has emerged as one of its leading lights.

Last week, the Archbishop of Canterbury appointed Dr Aspinall the official main spokesman for the Lambeth Conference, so the two high-profile heads of the Australian Anglican Church are now the public faces for two rival positions.

Dr Aspinall said the Anglican Church was a "large welcoming house in which there is room for people who hold different views".

Despite Dr Jensen's assurances that the rebels did not want to split the church, Dr Aspinall warned that "everybody should stick to the rules" because "once you get into court cases" over property "there are no winners".

He expected relative peace in the Australian church.

"Nobody wants to resort to the law in order to be able to enforce order and I think the theological value that everybody places on unity and reconciliation will hold some sway in this situation.

"It is a reasonable expectation for the Anglican Church to expect its members, including its bishops, to abide by the constitution and rules of the church.

"I think if people tried to make off with property that belongs to the Anglican Church, the trustees of that property in the church at law would be, would have an obligation to protect it."

Dr Aspinall said he was hopeful that sense would prevail.

LNK

Ozschwitz: Anglican mystics at each others throat; Aspinall warns Jensen

Ozschwitz: Anglican mystics at each others throat; Aspinall warns Jensen

Anarcho-Capitalist Non-Miscellaneous

Celebrate Evildoers' Inadvertent Contributions to AnCaps' Values!