ANGLICAN PRIMACY.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 526, 5 June 1909, Page 7

ANGLICAN PRIMACY.

PROPOSED ARCHBISHOPRIC'OF WELLINGTON. TO BE DISCUSSED BY CENERAL SYNOD. POSITION EXPLAINED. ' t " [CosHTONICATIiD.] Ono of tho most important questions which will oomo before tho Anglican General Synod, ' which is / to meet in Wellington at tho beginning of next year, is a proposal that tho Pnmaoy 'should be permanently attached to tho See of .Wellington, and that the Bishop i of'this dioceso should assume tho title of Archbishop of Wellington and Primate of New" Zealand. Of course, any such change would not take effect until the Primacy becomes vacant, but it is folt by many that tho time is fully ripo for tho thorough discussion and final settlement of this matter. ••', A "Roving" Office,' At tho present time the Primacy of tho Church in New Zealand is a roving" office, and is generally, though not necessarily, held by the senitr bishop. The honour was first attached to the diocese of Auckland'in the days of Bishop G. A. SelS'll) then it went to Christchurch (Bishop «¥*«)),, then to Wellington (Bishop Hadfiold), then back to Auckland (Bishop Cbwio),and finally it travelled to the other end ' ? f !s? colony, the position being at present held'by the Bishop of Dunedin (Dr. Nevill). people.are of opinion that this system" of a loving Primacy is a mistake, and that for the good of the Churfih in New Zealand as a whole all local jealousies, if such exist, should now be set aside, and that the Primacy should be permanently attached to ono of bishoprics. If this were donej interesting historic associations connected with great ovents in the annals of the New Zealand Church would in the course of time grorf up .round tho primatial see,'which, as the years went by, would secure An increasingly/honoured place in*the affectiohs of Anglican" Churchmen. The beginnings of the Archbishopric of Canterbury and Primacr of All England ware much smaller and humbler than the'position of .tho See of Wellington to-day, and Canterbury would never havo occupied thoi great placo its splendid history nnd liable associations have secured for it in the mmdS of English Churchmen throughont the i world had the offico been a temporary ono.v subject to removal in turn, s*y, to . London, ■ Winchester, Gloucester, Bristol, Exeter, 'and so on, and. then, perhaps, back to Uantsrbury' once more, and so beginning another round of visits. '' •: Practical Considerations. Every man, who knows anything of the life cf.gfcat institutions will be able to appreciate the, value of historical and sentimental associations, but practical considerations must -be given ,sn even more import jnt,'place. From this , point of View *5f clal ?. 8 ° f . Wellington as tho locltion of the Primacy of hen Zealand must bo regarded as exceedinjly strong. It is the, political and geographical centre of the Dominion, and tfio commercial supremacy lies between .Wellington «nd Auckllrnd. ft Ihe Church should be permanently stttioned in a central position, where h» would be in closest.touch with the religious, social, and political, movement, of tho day, and from touch with the official representatives of the other dioceses. The occupant .of the proE3, A " hb,sho P™ of Wellington would also h T?* the il official "editm of comend tho rest of tho Anglican Communion. itXIJ , of V T of ecclesiastical Btatetoanship the value of a permanent central Privacy, admits , of no doubt, and tho ™fe(V\ ,0<! * ton a "Wellington! tho t j „ ' Auckland or Wellington. of Ri O U V^ Or ° ° Ie VV tho headquarters ' fLn t ■?' ,Sel * ?? d thero too we most rh P nrl l eV6ntS hi3toI 7 of the Church,were enacted. If the Primacy had aShST-?" 'ft* continuously located .t »«ffi '■ Prebably would never havo been Snh[«'* m j Sp *ef * ht> nm ? Poetical diffieultiM and inconveniences that must have orison m.the course of time: but the soell biH W p- broke f al V d the of" SS!? ,n i? ey h s s bo * n MaTm'th unsatis- ■' ftSJ "J ■ andnow that the quet won has to come up for reconsideration the great.claims of Wellington from the praetiinl^yik°l ™* <"»><* «» overlookedT.Tak,i!s'all.lhlD ß ß ? hte consideration, every canthe' nr»o^ ni ] rCJUdIC ? J d tti ? d Wi " admit *1»* iMt& til c 01,81^ 10113 outweigh tho lentimentil reasons in favour of Auckland? The National Standpoint, M ?t;« e "Jjesentat'Tes of these two great menton the question, such agreement should Jt ?I rece,ve tho fceart 7 "PProval of tho other dioceses, none ofwfiich can put forwfth tlZ C if'? S J? T f or a~* ft'ik »& n^l tni °- r Wol,i "S*f"- Now, t is stated .that the majority of the Auckland, representatives on tho General Synod BbmdS 6 tho ,,3n«tion from a nations SSKt , A lO A VI hn 2 to sn PP°rt tho proPojf 1 , th »t the Primacy sboulTbo permanl SSS r «t h W- et We »i?e*» ™* that th"oc-cup-int of this see sHoold assumo ,the title : the representatives of tbo two great northal }?, dld b6 M * to give effect t this statesmanlike proposal. ' • , Method of Election. urt B t' n A^ii oT this Mw departure ''"> feun ? »n the present unsatisfactory method'of electing a Primate. Before a * triT J? in this P° sition 'ho h»3 Jf'thTivr h * J Otes of a raa ' orit y of «»ch i f ,F2 t represented in the Gea.hi!? 0 ! ? M h ? ps> «"», and laity). If ifter three ballots none of the bishoos obuirtsjtheso majorities, the senior hhSSJ bt wmes Pjimate. Speaking at the last meet tag of the General Synod, the Rev. T H , <fti,4 pO w t * d ?& tho objoctions to this fLt'tirV • v e ? t'V O^1 ?*' 0,1 was made Wilt the, senior bishop should bo Primate unless in some special way disqualified. The ■Malt #»s that tho senior bishop was pracanlU placed on trial, and if he was not fh«asn it was equivalent to saying that ho rts in Some way unsuitable, which could not /ail to, have a humiliating effect. Mr. Sprott etatfd that he favoured a fixed Privacy for historic associations among other re»sons. - Such an arrangement seemed JKcesssry in order to give expression to tho SfSenti&l dignity of tho office. This speech Rtß made in conneotion with a motion by Arehdeicbn Harper "that a commission bo appointed to- consider and report to next " a , Blon ,- ™ether it is expedient that the • lM PrlD,ate he altered, and that of Archbishop and Primate substituted, and iphother any improvement c»n be made in tho.aystom of the election of a Primate." Arehdcicon Harper favoured tho titlo of Ardhbishop, and tho present Primate (tho Bishop of Dunedin) remarked that the proposal that the titlo of Archbishop bo, added to that of Primato was by no a novel one. Th« motion was, corned, tho voting being:-Ayes: bishops. 6; clergy U; laity. 7. Noes: bishops, Ol clergy• 1 j laity, i. The commission consists of the Dioceuii Chiaeellors. the Dean of-Dunedin Canon MacUurray Revs. H. W. Willimh,, T. H. Sprott, J. P. K-e-npthornc, and Archdcecon Harper. This eommisewn will, it is rumoured, report in favour of the' Primate assuming tho titlo of Archbishop, and then it will be open to nni member of tho synod to move that tho Primaoy shall bo permanently attached to the M of Wellington, or any other New Zealand Coming Into Line. It would be a great mistake to think Umt Ihb Movement is in any way influenced hj

the shallow glamour of a grand and highsounding title.' It is actuated, in addition to the foregoing reasons, by a laudable desire to place tho organisation of tho Churoh of the Province of Now Zealand in line with other parte of the Anglican Communion. : The Church in South Africa was formed into a province (i.e., a district consisting of several dioceses_ over which an Archbishop or Primato presides) by letters patent In 1853, a-nd after the colonial churches were left to their/ewn resources, others adopted the same course. Canada and New Zealand led the way, and were followed by the Australian dioceses, arid' tho dioceses formed out of the original diocoso of Rupert's Land'in North-West America and the West Indian dioceses. A further development took place when tho provinces of Canada and Rupert's Land decided to form a 'united church for the whole Dominion of Canada, with , a general synod, whiph in 1893 resolved to bestow the title of Archbishop on the : Metropolitan of each of the two provinces, and to elect' one of them to bo .Primate of (AU Ciuiada. : The ■ : Australian dioceses also : whether constituted into provinoes or not met together in general synod, and at tJK •Lambeth Conference in 1897 the right of th< metropolitans of colonial provinces to ,1 th< title of Archbishop was recognised. It was therefore, at once conferred upon tho Bishop; ef Sydney, Cape Town, and Jamaica, and;ha; since been assumed "by 'those, of Melbourru and Brisbane, upon ecclesiastical province* (which must consist,of not fewer than threi bishoprics) being formed in the colonies. o: Victoria and Queensland.. ' s. ■■. ■'. r /'• './■/'.'.-'.Views of the Lambeth Conference. The following resolutions were'carried b; the Lambeth Conference 0f..1897:—: , , "We desire'to record our satisfaction a' the , progross_ of the acceptance of the principle of provincial.organi6atipn.;sinQ6.the da{< of its formal commendation to the Anglicai Communion in the Official Letter, of 1878 Wβ would also express a hope that th< mothbd of association. into_ provinces may b< carried .still further is circumstances msj .all6w. •;■■'■. ■_■■ /■ •', "■:" : '■; ■■ ' ' ■''; ; V _ "Recognising the almost universal custoir in the Western Church of attaching the ta tit of Archbishop'to;the rank of-Metropolitan, we are of that the revival and extension of this custom omo_ng oitrselves' i; justifiable/ and It is advisable thai the proposed.adoption of .sach a.title should be formally announced to the bishops'of'the various; ohurches and provincee of the Communion with ■ a yiew to its general recogni-

ti0n. .., : :, •'.-,.: • ■■.■■ '. ■ .■.; - .- ■_' '■■..'.-'■" ■■.■'• "Wo are of opinion that ,the archiepiscopal or primatical title may be taken .from a city or from a territory, according to the discretion of the province concerned." '! At; the Lambeth Conference of 1908 the committee appointed to consider the subject of organisation tho Anglican Communion introduces its report as follows: — "The remarkable expansion of the Anglican Communion during. th* litter half of the nineteenth century • has been accompanied by an equally remarkable development of proyincißlorganisition. In addition to the ancient.jurisdictions of Canterbury,: York, Armagh, sod Dublin, there are nov new provinces:with varying forms of, organisation »nd jurisdiction,, centred round the metropolitin sees of Calcutta, Toronto; Capetown, Rupert's Land, Sydney, Melbourne, »nd ! BrisDsne, or having as metropolituns, for the time beings the Bishops of -. Dunedin ;and Jenuuca; -..The Episcopal Church in : Scotland is orgaiueed.with a Primusj and tho Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States ef America.; with a_ Presiding. Bishop; -1118 Chnreh or Japan is also organised as a , national church.-Not only, have snoh. new provinces been formed,, but in the case of Canada: two Provincial Synods' and: four ln--,depen,d*nt dioceses have been subordinated to * General Synod of the whole Dominion: while in Australia, where the General Synod preceded: provincial organisation, three prpvinces have:been. formed, with the near prospeei »f'a: fonrth -being added to' their number. , ':'/ . ('■."'■'.■■':■ ■. \ ..•■■■■■.

li H Be * p from etore resolutions th»t_by_ conferring t¥e title of' Archbishop on the:.Primate/ofr.-NewnZoaland.. the ■ General Synod would be aoting in accordance with the ■wshee. .atjwhich, all branches of the Anglican Communion are represented by; their ...bishops., -;., ■ ■~.,:--. .