The Church of Ireland general synod opens in Armagh today and continues until Thursday evening. Over 600 people are expected to attend. A highlight will be the presidential address this morning by Primate of All-Ireland Archbishop Robin Eames.
Tomorrow afternoon the synod will be told that any proposed enhanced role within world Anglicanism for the Archbishop of Canterbury, its nominal head, would only be acceptable to the Church of Ireland if appointment to the position was subject to a review which went beyond the Church of England.
A report from the Church of Ireland Windsor Report working group, set up to consider the document precipitated by the ordination of a gay man as Bishop of New Hampshire in November 2003, has concluded that such an enhanced role would be acceptable "only if the [ Anglican] Communion as a whole had a hand in selecting the officeholder".
It would also mean that, were this so, "he or she would be in a strong position as a moral and teaching authority".
This, the working group's report says, "would be further enhanced by the assistance of a Council of Advice drawn also from the whole Anglican Communion".
The synod will also be asked to consider proposals for funding the appointment of child protection officers in both jurisdictions on the island.
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