Search the Episcopal Press and News

Browning's Visit to Mexican Dioceses Reveals Concern about Autonomy Process

Episcopal News Service. October 22, 1993 [93178]

Nan Cobbey, Features editor for Episcopal Life.

When Presiding Bishop Edmond L. Browning arrived in Mexico for a pastoral visit following the House of Bishops meeting in Panama in October, he encountered the full range of Latin emotion -- from exuberant warmth to worry and fear.

Greeted by bands, balloons and bombas (an exploding signal of celebration), the Texas native thrilled to see old friends, visit long-remembered landmarks and taste daily the tortillas he had loved as a child. But his delight at the church's obvious vitality was tempered when he started hearing reports of persecution.

Priests and parishioners told of threats and intimidation, of broken windows, cut power lines and harassed worshipers. Their stories became a recurring theme during the eight-day visit that took Browning and his Latin America partnership officer, the Rev. Canon Ricardo Potter, to cities in four of Mexico's five dioceses -- Cuernavaca, Guadalajara, Vera Cruz and Mexico City.

"We are attacked in our neighborhood for not being the true church," a tearful Iliduvina Sanchez of St. Mary's Church in Mexico City told Browning. "I am so annoyed and so angry. They say we mislead the people." She told Browning that her church had repeatedly had its electrical wires cut, its windows smashed and its doors painted with graffiti by local Roman Catholics.

Maria Delourdes, daughter of Bishop Claro Huerta in the Diocese of Southeastern Mexico, told a similar story. "They sent people to stand outside the church and tell everyone coming in that this church was invalid, was bad... that they would be excommunicated if they entered."

Browning sympathized with Sanchez: "God is preparing you to reach out to others who are suffering and in pain."

Autonomy process causes angst

But persecution, which several said was decreasing, wasn't the greatest worry expressed. The process of autonomy -- the changing relationship with the Episcopal Church in the United States that will mean dwindling financial support over the next 25 years -- was the greatest preoccupation in every diocese.

"Our resources are not going to be enough to do all the work," Huerta said bluntly during an afternoon meeting in Vera Cruz. "I have seven clergy -- two deacons, five priests and one in seminary -- not enough clergy...that is my problem." Huerta's diocese has 3,500 members in 16 congregations.

Beryl Boddy, organizer of the English-speaking congregation in Cuernavaca that has been meeting for 30 years, made an equally blunt diagnosis. "There's no money for anything. These congregations do not have the money to support their priests. We do not have enough priests. Most of them are taking care of two or three missions," Boddy said.

In each diocese Browning heard similar fears and in each he offered reassurance. "I want you to know that you will not be separated from the American church...You are not going to become an independent church, you are going to become an interdependent church...The American church has the responsibility and the accountability to continue its support. You have the responsibility and the accountability to now take your place as partners within the life of the Anglican Communion."

Mexico will become an autonomous province within the communion in 1994. The "covenant agreement" being written by a committee of Mexican and North American church members spells out how financial support will be diminished. It also defines the continuing links and collaboration. That covenant agreement will be presented to Executive Council in November and to General Convention next year.

Yet anxiety about the change and about possible isolation is persistent and one of the primary reasons Browning and Potter planned their visit to the dioceses. "Obviously the issue of autonomy brings some fearful moments," said Browning. "There is a continuing need for education about the purpose and the aspirations of autonomy."

Questions about women's ordination and sexuality

Browning's reassurances to church members came in many forms. In all four dioceses he answered questions from church members about women's ordination and the church's position on sexuality, especially homosexuality. "Do you have a crisis in the church over women?" asked a man during a press conference attended by radio, television and print journalists in Cuernavaca. "Physically and spiritually unhealthy individuals should never be priests or bishops," insisted another, referring to homosexuals.

Browning's answers to both questions drew applause even from those who had seemed hostile. He related how all but five of the 99 domestic dioceses now ordain women even though only half approved the move in 1976. He praised the ministry of women in the church.

He praised members of the gay community as well. "I want to share with you that these persons, men and women, have made great contributions to our church, to its liturgy, its social activism, its teaching and education," he said. "I would ask, whatever your position, that you see a homosexual person as a person created by God and loved by God."

In his dialogues in the dioceses, Browning also addressed his concerns about the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). He criticized the "sometimes racist" immigration and refugee policies of the United States, noting that those policies had often contributed to the poverty of the developing world. "We must look for the systemic reasons that have caused that poverty," he said.

Some of the most poignant and profound questions came from a group of 80 teenagers in Cuernavaca. They asked about Bosnia, about NAFTA, about sexuality. And as they listened, intently, to a very personal reflection about how precious and important was their sexuality, their parents and 400 others waited outside. The scheduled Eucharist started 30 minutes late while the youth visited with "their" presiding bishop.

Confetti, banners and music welcome bishops

At no church, however, was the welcome more boisterous with Latin zest than at St. John the Evangelist in Mexico City. Browning arrived in the downtown parish to find most of the neighborhood in the street to greet him.

Trumpets, tuba and drums blasted an energetic salute. Kids jumped to get a better view, making a rustle of color waving their red, white and aqua mecudos (pompons on a stick). Men ignited cohetes (fireworks) one after another and the missiles hissed off to explode overhead.

Children and dogs raced in front as the procession set off on its twoblock march to the church. Rooftop watchers threw confetti, mothers snapped photographs and the oompahing band provided a perfect cadence for the coped and mitred bishops.

When Browning paused before the church doors, shaking hands and accepting kisses from the youngest parishioners, the crowd broke into a stadium-type cheer.

"We are very excited and emotional that he has come," said Erika Fierro, 20, tears forming in her eyes.

[thumbnail: Browning Dons Sombrero in...] [thumbnail: Browning Greets Children...]