'Signatories' of Akinola letter say they didn't sign

http://www.churchtimes.co.uk/80256FA1003E05C1/httpPublicPages/D9198E24B04AF154802570C3004D71DA?opendocument

[Church Times] November 25, 2005--The Primate of the West Indies, the Most Revd Drexel Gomez, described the letter on Tuesday as "an act of impatience and a disrespect for process". He said: "Unfortunately we never had a discussion of the letter. It was just circulated along with other documents - we only had 40 minutes to meet and were only told about the background to it."

He and the Presiding Bishop of the Southern Cone, the Most Revd Gregory Venables, had agreed together after the meeting that they could not be associated with it, Archbishop Gomez said. "We were never told it would be made public. I am not at all happy with the present situation."

Bishop Venables confirmed that he had been in touch with Archbishop Akinola to express his objections. He said on Tuesday: "I went along to Egypt as part of it all because I wanted to affirm the positive nature of Christianity within Anglicanism, and to see if we can find a way forward together.

"I certainly didn't go to have a go at Rowan, who's a good friend and a man I respect enormously. I certainly don't see any point in setting up an alternative Anglican Communion because that in itself would be a contradiction. Anglicanism isn't like that. Even if one side here wins, it stops being Anglican. That isn't our way; it's what keeps us from being a sect."