* "Obedience to God comes ahead of loyalty to country," no longer popular, says Welby.
The Archbishop of Canterbury has alleged that the British Parliament threatened him "with parliamentary action” in an attempt to “force same-sex marriage” on the Church of England.
The Most Rev Justin Welby said that the Parliament twice summoned him over the issue. He, however, warned that the church should not be “dictated to”, “blackmailed” or “bribed” over the issue, Telegraph, UK reports.
Welby said the historic debate on blessings for gay and lesbian couples was ignited by rising secularism.
His comments followed the recent vote by the General Synod of the Church of England which favored offering blessings in the Church for same-sex couples- a development that threatens the unity of both the Church of England and worldwide Anglican Communion.
Delivering a presidential address at the 18th plenary meeting of the global Anglican Consultative Council in Accra, Ghana, the Archbishop said that, about the growing impact of atheism, “the result is clear”.
He added: “In the last few weeks, as part of our discussions about sexuality and the rules around sexuality in the Church of England, I talked of our interdependence with all Christians, not just Anglicans, particularly those in the global south with other faith majorities.
“As a result, I was summoned twice to Parliament and threatened with parliamentary action to force same-sex marriage on us, called in England equal marriage.
“When I speak of the impact that actions by the Church of England will have on those abroad in the Anglican Communion, those concerns are dismissed by many, not all, but by many in the General Synod.”
He later said: “Obedience to God comes ahead of loyalty to country. That was not popular when I said it, last Monday night, to some Members of Parliament.”
The Archbishop also told the audience in Accra that the future of the Anglican Communion must not be “dictated to by people, blackmailed, [nor] bribed to do what others want us to do”.
Global split over same-sex marriage.
In a meeting last month with MPs in the House of Commons, the Archbishop reportedly said he would prefer the Church of England to lose its privileged status than risk a global split over same-sex marriage.
Labour MP for Exeter, Ben Bradshaw, who attended the meeting at the end of January, described the Archbishop’s speech as “extraordinary”.
He told the Telegraph: “He seems to be claiming to the conservative African churches that the baby steps taken last week to tackle homophobia in the Church of England are being forced on him by Parliament while telling Anglicans here, the majority of whom support same-sex marriage in church, that he and his fellow Bishops can’t go further because it would alienate the Africans.
“He also appears to blame the pressure to stop discriminating against gay and lesbian Anglicans on the ‘secularisation of the West’ when it is people of faith within the Church of England who are leading the calls for change.
"I wish the Archbishop would say what he believed and stick to it, rather than saying different things to different audiences, ” Ben Bradshaw said.
Chris Loder, Conservative MP for West Dorset, noted that the fact that the Archbishop claims that MPs “threatened him”, yet “he proceeds to invite the very same attendees to Lambeth Palace a few days prior suggest otherwise”.
“I would suggest that the Archbishop and some of his colleagues are politicians wearing miter given his statements over the weekend,” Mr. Loder added.
Just days before the first meeting with MPs, Archbishop Welby held a reception for about 90 parliamentarians for a Candlemas service in the chapel at Lambeth Palace.
The Revd Paul Eddy, spokesman for the Global South Fellowship of Anglican Churches said of the Archbishop’s latest comments: “Sadly, Archbishop Welby is up to his old trick: tell foreign leaders something which in their culture means something different to ours, knowing they don’t have independent advisers to explain.”
Meanwhile, conservative bishops from around the world have warned that Welby risked breaking up the Anglican Communion over blessings for same-sex marriage, which “rewrite God’s law”.
‘Powerful secular voices’
Bishops in Uganda and Rwanda have condemned the Synod vote and the Archbishop of Kenya, the Most Rev Dr. Jackson Ole Sapit, criticized the “powerful secular voices that have captured the Church of England” as he said he was “saddened by the departure of our mother church from the true gospel”.
Nigeria is home to one-third of all Anglicans across the world.
According to Archbishop Henry Chukwudum Ndukuba of Nigeria in a statement on Sunday (Feb.12), “History is about to repeat itself.
"The Anglican Church is at the threshold of yet another reformation, which must sweep out the ungodly leadership currently endorsing sin, misleading the lives of faithful Anglican worldwide.”
The primate urged the dioceses under the
Global Anglican Future Conference, known as GAFCON, and other orthodox groups within the communion to remain resolute in defending the faith.
A spokesman for Lambeth Palace revealed that there were already degrees of divisions in relations between some churches and the Archbishop has “consistently called on his fellow Anglican primates and bishops to continue walking together to the maximum possible degree despite their deep disagreements on some matters”.
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