The Rt. Rev. Francis Campbell Gray, Assistant Bishop of Virginia, spent March 14-18 in Cuba, where he observed talks on the formation of a new, independent Province of the Anglican Communion: the Province of the Caribbean.

Participants in the eight-year-old talks include representatives of the Episcopal Church in Cuba, the Episcopal Church in Puerto Rico, and two dioceses of the Episcopal Church USA: Haiti and the Dominican Republic, as well as other church officials. Bishop Gray attended the talks as a representative of the national Standing Commission on World Mission.

Even though representatives of the Church in Puerto Rico did not attend the round of talks in Cuba, formation of the new province remains on track, according to Bishop Gray.

"The talks were very productive," he said. "There is a commonality among these churches, and the general good will is strong."

Communication is an ongoing struggle among the potential members of the province-to-be. "You're talking about four dioceses, three languages, and four different countries," Bishop Gray said. "Part of the difficulty of the meeting is that something is always being translated."

One tangible sign of progress was the establishment of a joint development fund for the new province, a fund to which all four groups are contributing. "That's very encouraging," he said. "These dioceses have limited resources and they're taking responsibility to build a shared pot."

Though the Episcopal Church in Cuba and Puerto Rico already have autonomy, the Diocese of Haiti and the Diocese of the Dominican Republic are part of the Episcopal Church in the U.S.

"The United States is one of a few provinces ... with dioceses beyond its contiguous limits," Bishop Gray explained. When the new province forms, the dioceses of Haiti and the Dominican Republic will leave the Episcopal Church. That raises another sticking point in the talks: pensions. Both participate in the Church Pension Group's pension plan. Under canon law, once those dioceses leave the Episcopal Church, they will no longer be eligible to participate. "They're working with the Church Pension Fund to get that covered," Bishop Gray said. Cuba and Puerto Rico have their own plans.

The national Standing Commission on World Mission monitors the process toward autonomy as outlined in a 1991 General Convention resolution.