Anglican Communion News Service

Text of Archbishop Venables' letter follows:

Iglesia Anglicana
del Cono Sur
de America

Obispo Primado:
Rvmo. GREGORIO J. VENABLES
September 24, 2005

To The Bishop and Clergy of Recife,

Greetings in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ from the Province of the Southern Cone of America. For His own purposes, Jesus Christ, the Lord of the Church, has called us into the Anglican Communion in this time of uncertainty and conflict. Tragically, the actions that are assaulting the Communion are sowing a great deal of pain and confusion. That is poignantly true in Recife as there has been unprecedented action to depose the Bishop of that diocese and excommunicate you, the overwhelming majority of the clergy of the diocese who rejected the action against Bishop Cavalcanti.

It is important to note that the actions against the bishop and clergy were prosecuted by the Province of the Church of Brazil despite the strenuous objections of senior leaders in the communion and the establishment of a Panel of Reference by the Primates and the Archbishop of Canterbury to address situation like this.

Due to the gravity of the attempt to declare the removal of the Bishop and the declaration of excommunication of 40 of the diocesan clergy and the extremely slow pace at which the Panel of Reference is operating, a great gap has been created exposing a need for the bishop and clergy of Recife to receive ongoing recognition and some measure of spiritual covering. To that end, after consultation with other Primates, I am issuing this statement of support to continue to recognize these ordinations and ministries, and provide a special status of extra-provincial recognition by my office as Primate of the Southern Cone until such time as the Panel of Reference, the Archbishop of Canterbury, or the Anglican Communion has, in some way, adequately addressed this crisis.

By this letter I recognize (Each of the clergy were named), and affirm the status described above.

Sincerely,

The Most Rev. Gregory J. Venables
Presiding Bishop of the Southern Cone of South America