Primates without dioceses
The oddities of the Anglican organization in North America.


The Head of the Roman Catholic Church is the Bishop of Rome and he has a
diocese - Rome. In fact he is a diocesan bishop first and the Pope second.

The senior Patriarch of the Orthodox Churches is the Bishop of
Constantinople and he has a diocese - and Constantinople. In fact he is a
diocesan bishop first and the Patriarch second.

The Head of the Church of England is the Archbishop of Canterbury and he has
a diocese - Canterbury. In fact he is a diocesan bishop first and Primate
second.

BUT when we get to North America and to the Anglican presence there we find
a strange phenomenon!

First of all, the Primate of the Anglican Church in Canada, who in the
Canons is called the Senior Metropolitan and Archbishop, actually has no
diocese. (This is a recent development for not too long ago the Primate was
one of the Archbishops of the Canadian Provinces and he always had a
diocese.) And secondly, the Primate of the Episcopal Church of the USA who
is called the Presiding Bishop also has no diocese. (This also is a modern
development for until World War II the Presiding Bishop was always a
sitting diocesan bishop.)

So we have two Bishops/Primates of the Anglican Family in North America, who
make very strong proclamations about the commitment of the Anglican Way to
the territorial diocese, who only make concessions to Native Peoples and no
others for the existence of a special ethnic diocese, who themselves have no
actual territory over which they are bishop. What is necessary for the Pope
and the Patriarch and for the Archbishop of Canterbury is not necessary for
them. Yet having no territorial or cultural or ethnic diocese they proclaim
the doctrine that each bishop [apart from themselves!] should have his own
territory.

And to show how illogical they are, one need only note that both in Canada
and in the USA there have been official “unions” with the Evangelical
Lutheran Church so that the Anglican Church of Canada and the ECUSA have
accepted the reality of parallel and overlapping territorial jurisdictions
between which there is full eucharistic communion and between which there is
interchangeability of ordained persons.

YET when it comes to the possibility of a parallel jurisdiction in N.
America accepted by the Anglican Communion for traditional Anglicans, who
are committed to the historic Trinitarian Faith, then both of these
Primates (who have no dioceses) and their staff sing loudly the praises of
the territorial bishopric and oppose with all their might the idea of an
Anglican parallel diocese/province!

Is it not time for these Primates to show themselves friendly towards the
Continuing Anglican Church, the Reformed Episcopal Church and the Anglican
Mission in America with a view to working towards general agreement on a
parallel province in North America for traditional Anglicans who are
committed to the classic BCP and to the historic Order of the Church?

The Rev’d Dr. Peter Toon, President of the Prayer Book Society of the USA,
July 14, 2001. ptoon@ont.com