Synod of Ninth Province Meets
Diocesan Press Service. May 2, 1972 [72079]
The Rev. Onell A. Soto, Executive Secretary
MEXICO CITY, Mexico (SEP) -- The Fifth Synod of the Ninth Province which started April 28 came to a close today. Fifty-four persons, among them bishops, clerical and lay deputies representing eleven dioceses of the Episcopal Church in Latin America, visitors from the United States and Europe attended the meeting.
The assembly approved a document on the realization of justice and peace in the world and solicited a detailed study on the ecclesiastical autonomy of the Ninth Province within the Anglican Communion.
The Ninth Province is composed of the missionary dioceses of Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico. All of these dioceses belong to and are governed by the canons of the Episcopal Church in the United States.
The document on justice and peace was originally approved by the Mexican Episcopal Church and calls the Church to recognize once more its prophetic mission "combating situations that are socially, politically and economically unjust thereby forcing the creation of structures that signify real justice and liberation from the violences that oppress men."
The study on autonomy will be done by the Provincial Council with the help of others and will take into account all of the implications. A special synod taking place in San Jose, Costa Rica, next year, will decide on the matter.
The Fifth Synod elected the Rt. Rev. Melchor Saucedo, Suffragan Bishop of Mexico, and resident of Guadalajara, as its President. The Rt. Rev. Telesforo A. Isaac, recently consecrated as Bishop Coadjutor of the Dominican Republic, was elected as Vice-President. Bishop Saucedo succeeds the Rt. Rev. William C. Frey, former Bishop of Guatemala, who is now Chaplain at the University of Arkansas. Bishop Frey left his diocese last October, due to action on the part of the Guatemalan Government in connection with a joint declaration with other Christian leaders asking for the cessation of violence and suspension of Marshall Law.
The Synod elected the Provincial Council members, the Court of Appeals and representatives from the various Anglican and ecumenical bodies. It also heard reports from various committees and provincial organizations. The next scheduled synod of the Ninth Province will take place in 1974, in the Dominican Republic.