Anglican Communion Leaders to meet in Tanzania

ACNS 4242 | ACO | 31 JANUARY 2007

The Primates of the world-wide Anglican Communion will gather for their regularly scheduled meeting 14-19 February, 2007, Jangwani Beach, near Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania. Other Inter Anglican Meetings will be held around those dates at the same venue.

There are 38 Primates (Senior bishops, Presiding Bishops, Moderators) of the Anglican Communion. The Primates come together from the geographic Provinces around the globe. The Archbishop of Canterbury chairs the meetings with the Revd Canon Kenneth Kearon, Secretary General of the Anglican Communion (AC), serving as secretary.

As "primus inter pares" - first among equals, the Archbishop of Canterbury gathers his fellow primates together for Bible study, worship and conversation on the current state of affairs and mission in the global church. Archbishop Rowan Williams has stated that he is looking to the Primates for guidance on matters relating to the Lambeth Conference 2008 as well as looking at the Episcopal Church's response to the Windsor Report, in light of a special report to be discussed from a sub-committee of the Anglican Consultative Council (ACC) and Primates Standing Committee. There will also be reports on the Panel of Reference and The Listening Process work. Also on the agenda is the welcoming of Mrs Hellen Wasanga of Uganda as the new Anglican Observer at the United Nations in New York. She will be installed at services in New York at Trinity Church, Wall Street and in Zanzibar Cathedral.

New primates will be welcomed from including Ireland, USA, Scotland, Brazil, Australia, Korea, Japan, Indian Ocean, Aotearoa, New Zealand, Southeast Asia and Burundi. This is the first time an Archbishop of York will officially attend a Primates Meeting. Canon Kearon said, "It is the hope that the presence of Dr Sentamu will allow more discussion of church life in Britain, as the Archbishop of Canterbury's focus is heavily global during these gatherings."

On the Sunday of the meeting the Primates will travel by boat to Zanzibar for a Solemn Eucharist in the Anglican Cathedral, where the altar is built over an old slave trading post, as the people of Zanzibar commemorate the 100th anniversary of the last slave sold in Zanzibar and the 200th anniversary of the end of slavery in the British empire.

The Primates Meetings have always been private. Press and media briefings will be offered as appropriate and if needed. There will be a final press briefing if a communiqué is issued. Anglican Communion News Service (ACNS) will be updated on www.anglicancommunion.org with photos on a daily basis.

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We do ask press and media to register with us to make certain they receive all news and information items coming from the Tanzania meeting. There is no press facility on site but local hotels, we understand, have internet and wireless access.

A formal public photo call will follow the Eucharist on Sunday in Zanzibar.

ENDS

For additional information on the Primates Meeting
Contact: Canon Jim Rosenthal Mobile/Cell +44 (0) 780 389 4751; Office 0207 313 3909
or Suminder Duggal on 0207 313 3914;
email: jim.rosenthal@aco.org

ON SITE TELEPHONE NUMBERS from 12 February: +255 (22) 264 7620 or mobile/cell

For matters relating to the Archbishop of Canterbury
Contact: The Revd Jonathan Jennings +44 (0) 207 898 1280 (London)
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