May 20, 2003

The chief archbishops of the Anglican Communion have arrived in Southern Brazil for their regular 'Primates Meeting,' hosted by the Anglican Episcopal Church of Brasil. This is Archbishop Rowan Williams' first meeting as Archbishop of Canterbury, but he is no stranger to the Primates. He has attended the last three meetings as Archbishop of Wales. Other Archbishops of Canterbury have paid pastoral visits to Brazil, the first was the visit of Archbishop Michael Ramsey in 1974, then Archbishop Robert Runcie in 1990 and Archbishop Carey in 1999.

This is, however, the first time the Primates as a group will be in Brazil and they have come in particular to honor the retiring Primate, the Most Revd Glauco Soares di Lima. The Archbishop of Canterbury is the spiritual leader of the 70 million Anglicans worldwide, as well as Primate of All England and Bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. He is president of the Anglican Consultative Council and is seen as 'first among equals' in the college of Primates. He also hosts the Lambeth Conference, the last of which was held in 1998. The Primates Meetings are always private.

They are centered in prayer, study and Eucharist. Each primate brings to the table of discussion concerns in his province or beyond. Items identified to the Secretary General of the Anglican Communion in preparation for the time table include: AIDS initiatives in Africa, a document commissioned by the Primate of the West Indies on same-sex blessings, and theological education needs in various places.

The bishop of the Southern Diocese, the Rt Revd Orlando Santos de Oliveira, was on hand to welcome Archbishop Williams and the other primates as they arrived in Brazil. He said, "On behalf of the clergy and the people of our diocese, I welcome warmly the participants for this first-ever Primates Meeting in a Latin American country. It is very important for our Diocese, the oldest one, to host such a gathering. It was a special honor to me to be asked to assist with the chaplain for the coming week."

The Episcopal Anglican Church of Brazil is one of the 38 Provinces of the Anglican Communion, and its work began in 1890 as a result of the missionary work of two north American missionaries in Porto Alegre: James Watson Morris and Lucien Lee Kinsolving. Its autonomy was established, with the blessing of the Episcopal Church of Unites States in 1965. With more than 100,000 baptized members and a team of more than two hundred clergy, among those 30 female priests, the Episcopal Church has today established communities and educational and social institutions in the main urban areas of Brazil. Today the Brazilian Province is composed by seven dioceses: Southern, Southwestern, Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, Recife, Brasmlia and Pelotas; and two missionary districts: Amazon and West.

The meeting continues until the 25th.

Anglican Communion News Service