In a recent interview in the Church of Nigeria News, the Most Rev. Peter J. Akinola, Archbishop of the Anglican Province of Nigeria, had some harsh words for the Anglican Mission in America (AMiA) and some kind ones for the Most Rev. Frank T. Griswold, Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church.

"The fact that there are parts of the American Church that have problems is not a sufficient ground for brother primates or brother bishops to go and split the American Church. It is not right," Archbishop Akinola is quoted as saying.

On his own initiative and at his own expense, Archbishop Akinola recently completed a tour of several dioceses of the Episcopal Church. Among those visited were the dioceses of Chicago, Southern Ohio, Texas, Eastern Michigan and Michigan.

Based on his experiences in the areas he visited, Archbishop Akinola has concluded that the Episcopal Church in those areas is "as healthy as any church can be."

Archbishop Akinola also met with Bishop Griswold.

"I found in this gentleman a man committed to a deep life of prayer, a man of deep piety ... that is what I saw in this man called Frank Griswold," Archbishop Akinola said. "He assured me that he is working very hard among his bishops to create a new orientation ... Remember that these American bishops are part of the American society. So the problem in the American church is a universal problem in the entire Western world. It is not as if [the Episcopal Church] has a monopoly of these problems."

Archbishop Akinola's province is one of the Anglican Communion's largest in terms of both growth and number of communicants.