Bishop Barred from Cathedral in Venezuela
Episcopal News Service. May 26, 1999 [99-079J]
(ENS) The congregation at St. Mary's Pro-Cathedral, Caracas, in Venezuela, has seceded from the Anglican diocese of Venezuela.
According to a report, the congregation has retained lawyers, filed charges against the diocese and Bishop Orlando Guerrero and on April 11 physically barred him from entering the cathedral. The postponement of the diocesan synod in 1998 because of anxiety surrounding the Venezuelan elections is being used as the main charge against the bishop.
Guerrero is being challenged by the Rev. Roger Dawson, rector of St. Mary's, who was quoted in a St. Mary's magazine as saying Guerrero "comes to plunder St. Mary's for the land and its money. The plot has not worked and I will on your behalf, fight him and those who think like him to the bitter end."
In a statement, the Anglican Consultative Council (ACC) certified that the Iglesia Anglicana en Venezuela was the legitimate Anglican presence in the country and confirmed Guerrero as its legal representative and chief pastor. "Any other church or organization by whatever name it may choose to present itself in this country is not part of the Anglican Communion as approved by the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Anglican Consultative Council and the Primates of the Anglican Communion."