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Wednesday October 31, 2007

It is time to learn from those who are different from us, said Anglican Bishop

Edelberto Behs, SANTA MARIA, Brasil, August 21, 2003

 It is time to remain calm, to learn from those who are different and to Taxi Heathrow Airport pray for the peace and health of the Church of Christ, said the Bishop of the Anglican Episcopal Church of Brazil, (IEAB), Jubal Neves.

These concepts are included in a Pastoral Letter written for clergy and faithful from the South-Western Diocese of the IEAB, based in this city in the state of Rio Grande do Sul in which the bishop asks, “How should we respond to the ordination of a homosexual bishop?”

Neves was invited to participate in the Episcopal Church in the United States Convention (ECUSA), that recently gathered in Minneapolis.

During the Convention, the ratification of Gene Robinson as coadjutor bishop of the Diocese of New Hampshire, sparked polemic in the world Anglican Communion as Robinson is a declared homosexual who has been living with his partner for the past 12 years.

“In the process and its results, we clearly perceived that Robinson was not elected for being a “confessed gay” but because his diocese wanted a bishop with his ministerial qualities and his pastoral testimony,” said the Brazilian bishop in his Pastoral Letter.

Neves recalled that the Church was “shaken” when it changed its point of view regarding slavery in the XIX Century and when it decided to consecrate women bishops in the XX Century, and by the current vote in the ECUSA Convention.

He added that “we do not have to be in agreement or disagreement with the decisions made by the ECUSA General Convention, but rather we must respect both opinions, those who are in agreement and those who disagree,” accepting the autonomy of the North American dioceses.

“It is time to remain calm, to not feed discord and division, a moment of humility to relearn to respect those who are different, to pray for the peace and health of the entire Church of Christ, in order to be a true sign and a means of transformation and reconciliation,” warned Neves.

He announced, moreover, that the Chamber of Bishops from the IEAB will present a Pastoral Letter focusing on the issue of human sexuality.