There is something beyond unseemly about a national church taking local churches to court. Certainly it's anything but Christian.

On Sunday Feb 3rd I tuned into John Cleary's Sunday night radio programme to hear the Rt Rev'd Brian Farran, Anglican Bishop of Newcastle NSW, and Father Colin Blaney, Chairman of the Broken Bay Roman Catholic Diocesan Ecumenical Commission, discussing a new local Covenant agreement between their respective dioceses together with the Roman Catholic Diocese of Newcastle/Maitland.

Firstly, the question of integrity. If I am unpersuaded as to the best course of any action, then I must act in accordance with my conscience. Which course of action would best reflect what I truly believe in my heart? If orthodox bishops really believe that Anglicanism as practised in many parts of the Western world is a denial of Scripture and is inconsistent with apostolic teachings, then they cannot, indeed must not, share communion with the leaders of that new pseudo-Christian religion.

As a general rule, a province of this kind (that we might call a dependent province) occupies a distinct geographical area and is divided into dioceses. Juridicial, administrative and pastoral oversight is exercised by the archbishop in his province. Moreover the ability of the province or its archbishop to act independently of the parent church is disallowed in precise detail by the canons or laws under the constitution of that church. Such a province is definitely not free.