To the Editor of the Ottawa Citizen
May 25, 2006

While some in the Anglican Church may have flinched to see our problems aired on the front page of the Ottawa Citizen, I was relieved to see the care that Jennifer Green had taken in gathering the facts of the story that has made Ottawa notorious in orthodox Anglican circles. It is actually high time that local Anglicans became more aware of the situation, since it is extremely serious.

I would like to comment on three aspects of her article. I know most of the conservative Anglican priests she referred to and I would hardly characterize their reaction as "livid". It would be more accurate to say that they are profoundly saddened by the current crisis in the Anglican Church. It is also not the case that the Reverend Linda Fisher-Privitera's opportunity to work at St. Mary the Virgin in Blackburn Hamlet was compromised as a result of the open letter from seven clergy, which was dated February 9, well after the Rev. Fisher-Privitera's appointment as honorary assistant at St. John the Evangelist. The open letter, and a second clarifying letter, can be read on the news page of the website of the Anglican Gathering of Ottawa, www.anglicangathering.ca. Ref.

The Rev. Fisher-Privitera is obviously an intelligent person. She has a clear history as an activist in this area in the States Ref.   That she was seemingly so ill-informed about the controversy surrounding the blessing of same-sex unions in this diocese, and indeed in the Anglican Church of Canada, strikes me as being somewhat disingenuous - either on her part or on that of your newspaper.

Tony Copple
President,
The Anglican Gathering of Ottawa.