Canadian Anglican bishops have nominated four from among their number to be candidates in the election of a successor to Archbishop Andrew Hutchison, Primate of the Anglican Church of Canada.
Archbishop Hutchison, who was elected 12th Primate in 2004, has announced that he will retire after the Anglican General Synod in June [2007]. The synod, the Anglican church's chief governing body, will choose the next primate on June 22 [2007] in Winnipeg.
The procedure to elect a Primate, or national leader, is that bishops nominate no more than five candidates at their last meeting before a General Synod. The bishops, however, do not vote in the actual election. Primates are elected by clergy and lay members of the synod.
Bishops nominated for the election of the 13th Primate are:
- Bishop George Bruce of the diocese of Ontario
- Bishop Fred Hiltz of the diocese of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island
- Bishop Bruce Howe of the diocese of Huron
- Bishop Victoria Matthews of the diocese of Edmonton
Earlier, the bishops considered two motions on the future of the primacy from a task force they previously established. The bishops defeated a motion that would have suspended part of the Canon on the primacy requiring a newly elected bishop to resign his or her diocese. They approved a second motion asking June's General Synod to establish a task force to undertake a "detailed and comprehensive study of the nature, role, duties and authority of the Primate."
The Anglican General Synod, which convenes at the Marlborough Hotel in downtown Winnipeg on June 19, is the church's chief legislative and governing body. It is made up of more than 300 delegates, including lay people, deacons, priests and bishops elected from each of the church's 30 dioceses. General Synod meets every three years.
The primatial election will he held at a nearby church on June 22. The new Primate will be officially installed in office the evening of June 25 [2007].
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For more information, please contact: Vianney (Sam) Carriere, Director of Communications, 416-924-9199 ext. 306; scarriere@national.anglican.ca OR Josie De Lucia, Assistant to the Director, 416-924-0199 ext. 294; jdelucia@national.anglican.ca
Church leaders joined Caledonia and Six Nations residents on the banks of the historic Grand River 30 August 2006 to pray for a peaceful resolution to the disputed aboriginal land claim in Caledonia.
"The newly-elected bishop of the diocese of Huron, Robert Bennett, says that he has not yet acted on the diocesan synod's motion in May [2008] asking the bishop to give clergy permission to bless same-sex marriages." Bishop Bennett was elected diocesan bishop 25 Oct. 2008 two days before the House of Bishops met in October 2008. "'The diocese has been good not to put pressure when I said I'm not prepared to do anything just yet on whether we're moving ahead or not', said Bishop Bennett. Bishop [Bruce] Howe earlier said he 'gave concurrence' to the motion based on the large percentage of votes in favour (72 per cent in both clergy and lay houses), but that he intended to consult with other bishops before acting on it."