Latin American theological group calls Communion to honor Anglicanism's middle way

 [ENS] A majority of the bishops attending the Latin America Anglican Theological Congress meeting in Panama have signed a statement calling for the Anglican Communion to regain what they call the participatory and tolerant character that Anglicanism has always offered as the middle way within Christianity. The statement was developed at the congress' meeting in Panama City October 5-10.

In the statement, “Declaración de Panama,” the bishops criticized what they see as an effort to polarize biblical and theological discussions with labels that assign people to the Global North or the Global South. They said they feel they are being pressured to choose sides when, in fact, neither alternative fits their views.

The bishops who signed the statement instead suggest a Global Center that is rooted in the traditional middle way of Anglican inclusion and tolerance.

The statement also laments the exclusion of the Province of Brazil from the upcoming conference of global south Anglicans to be held in Alexandria, Egypt. The statement also criticizes the reception by the Primate of the Province of the Southern Cone of the deposed bishop and clergy from the Brazilian diocese of Recife.

John Kater, retired professor of ministry development at the Church Divinity School of the Pacific, attended the meetings that produced the statement. He said the gathering was characterized by a solidarity across many potential dividing lines, including culture, race, nationality, and language.

“I’m excited about this statement because it represents a rejection of the incredible polarization of the Anglican Communion,” said Kater, who provided a paraphrase translation of parts of the statement. “It represents a common affirmation by people who have different opinions about specific issues and it affirms that communion goes beyond shared opinions.”

The statement was signed by the primates of Brazil, Mexico and Central America, six other Brazilian bishops, the majority of the bishops of Central America, all the bishops of Mexico, plus Western Ecuador, Venezuela, Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, the Dominican Republic and Haiti.

Spanish and English versions of the statement have not yet been made available electronically.

The theological conference is a new initiative coordinated by a sub-commission of the Commission on Theological Education for Latin America and the Caribbean (CETALC).

"The Latin America Theological Congress came out of the commissions concern about the theological education in Latin America," the Most Rev. Martin Barahona-Pascasio, Primate of IARCA and Bishop of El Salvador recently told ENS.

"We know that there are good seminaries in the United States but the theological education in Latin America is more difficult. We have experienced that when we send students from Latin America to the United States to study, they don't want to come back. So we need to develop our own vision of theology in Latin America. This vision is of the viewpoint of globalization of the world," he said.