Canada to Southern Cone: "Back Off"

MadPriest alerts us to a letter from from Archbishop Fred Hiltz, Primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, to Archbishop Gregory Venables, Primate of the Southern Cone, asking him to cancel a visit to Canada. Here's part of it:

...It has come to my attention that you will be participating in the Anglican Network in Canada conference, "Compelled by Christ's Love" taking place in Vancouver, B.C., April 25-26,2008. Your visit to Canada is without any reference to or consent from my office or that of the Bishop of the Diocese of New Westminster. This represents a breach in what is considered normative in protocol among Primates and Bishops throughout the Communion...

...Representing a Province in communion with yours and all others in the world wide Anglican Communion I ask you as a brother Primate to stop interfering in the life of this province. This request is made in the interest of upholding the bonds of affection, and respecting catholic collegiality and provincial autonomy. I believe it is consistent with the ancient canons of the Church, and statements from successive Lambeth Conferences and the Windsor Report. It is also consistent with the commitment that all the Primates, including you, made through the communiqué from the meeting in Dromantine in 2005. That commitment stated that the Primates will, "neither encourage nor initiate cross-boundary interventions." This commitment was repeated in the communiqué from the Primates' Meeting in Tanzania in 2007.In light of these commitments, made by you and your fellow Primates I specifically request that you cancel your visit to Canada...

The Anglican Journal is now reporting that Venables has rejected this request:

...Archbishop Venables, reached by telephone in Buenos Aires, where the province is based, said he did not intend to cancel his visit. “I don’t see any reason to call off the trip. I was invited to share with people who have already separated from the Canadian church. I wouldn’t have done anything had they not already separated,” he said.

Contacting Archbishop Hiltz or diocesan bishop Michael Ingham was unnecessary, he said, since he is “not meeting with people who are members of the Anglican Church of Canada.” He added, “I didn’t encourage them to separate; I simply received their request (to join the Southern Cone).” He said his activities at the conference, called “Compelled by Christ’s Love” would be “to be with them, to talk and share and listen”...

We have previously discussed the Southern Cone's intentional move to plunder congregations in North America here.

J.