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Bishop Ottley of Panama Will Be Next Anglican Observer at United Nations

Episcopal News Service. June 15, 1994 [94112]

Bishop James Ottley of Panama has been appointed the next Anglican Observer at the United Nations, according to a May 31 announcement by the Rev. Canon Samuel Van Culin, secretary general of the Anglican Communion in London.

Ottley's appointment followed consultation with Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey and concluded an international search to fill the vacancy left by the Rt. Rev. Sir Paul Reeves, who left the post at the beginning of the year. Ottley will begin his new post in New York City in November, 1994.

In accepting his appointment, Ottley said that he hoped he would take to the U.N. post "a biblical, theological perspective to the whole process of democratization that will have the capacity to invite the members of the various nations to sit around the table to negotiate and to present alternatives as we struggle... with the problems of human rights and peace and justice around the world..."

A superb representative

Presiding Bishop Edmond Browning said that he was "delighted" with the appointment and that Ottley will be a superb representative for the Anglican Communion. Browning pointed to Ottley's leadership role in the church -- as former president of Province 9, vice-president of the House of Bishops, a representative of the presiding bishop at the World Council of Churches, a coopted staff member at the Anglican Consultative Council's 1990 meeting in Wales and as a participant in Muslim-Christian dialogue. "These experiences will enable him to be a superb representative," Browning said.

Browning also added that he and Ottley were friends long before they were elected bishops. "He is a person of great integrity -- and deep concern for the difficult issues facing the Third World," he said of Ottley. "This sensitivity will be enormously helpful in his crucial role at the United Nations."

During the 1989 U.S.invasion of Panama, Ottley's home was shaken by the bombing and his son narrowly escaped death from bullets fired at his automobile. In the wake of the death and destruction wrought by the invasion, Ottley criticized the slow pace of reconstruction efforts by the United States, and consequently expressed strong reservations against the use of military force in the Persian Gulf. He has been at the forefront of social and political changes in Panama for the past 10 years.

Ottley is a native of the Republic of Panama. He earned degrees from the Virginia Theological Seminary and the Episcopal Theological Seminary of the Caribbean in Puerto Rico. He served several parishes in Panama and the Episcopal University Center in Panama City as chaplain. He was consecrated bishop in 1984 and since 1990 has served as vice-president of the Episcopal Church's House of Bishops.

Fluent in English and Spanish, Ottley will also assist in the Diocese of New York. He is married to Lillian Garcia and they have four children.

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