Adapted from an Anglican Journal report by Marites N. Sison.
The Diocese of Uruguay says it feels “abandoned and unsupported” after the standing committee of the Anglican Consultative Council turned down its request to change provinces.
The diocese, which is part of the Iglesia Anglicana del Cono Sur de America, has asked that it be transferred to Igreja Episcopal Anglicana do Brasil, which it says is more compatible in theology, mission and philosophy.
It appealed to the ACC standing committee to review its decision, saying it feels “adrift, as if condemned to stay in a province where it doesn’t fit.”
In 2010, the diocese voted to seek another jurisdiction after a proposal to allow dioceses to individually permit the ordination of women to the priesthood was turned down by the 10th Southern Cone synod. The diocese of Uruguay, which currently has female deacons, has been requesting the ordination of women for more than a decade.
Photo: Sunset in Montevideo, Uruguay, by Gonzalo Viera Azpiroz [CC-BY-2.0], via Wikimedia Commons
Matthew Townsend is a Halifax-based freelance journalist and volunteer advocate for survivors of sexual misconduct in Anglican settings. He served as editor of the Anglican Journal from 2019 to 2021 and communications missioner for the Anglican Diocese of Quebec from 2019 to 2022. He and his wife recently entered catechism class in the Orthodox Church in America.
