From the Secretary General of the Anglican Communion, the Revd Canon John L Peterson:

Two priests from the United States were consecrated bishops on January 29, 2000 in St Andrew's Cathedral, Singapore. A press release from an organisation called First Promise in the United States says that these new bishops will be "released to the United States" from Africa and Asia.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, prior to the said consecrations, had asked the Archbishop of South East Asia not to proceed. A press statement from Lambeth Palace said the Archbishop expressed "his regret that that this action has taken place" and called the said consecration "irregular and irresponsible".

The Primate of the Episcopal Church USA, in a letter to his fellow Primates of the Communion, says "I regard the actions of the primates of Rwanda and South East Asia as singularly unhelpful at a time when we in the Episcopal Church are seeking to upbuild and strengthen our fundamental unity in faith for the sake of mission to a broken and needy world."

Archbishop Harry Goodhew of Sydney expressed concern over the consecration. In a press statement sent to the Secretariat, he said, "A meeting of Primates and Archbishops held in Kampala agreed to wait until after the meeting of the Primates in Portugal in March 2000 before considering any move of the kind that has been taken today. I am surprised and not a little disappointed that people who were present at Kampala, and expressed support for what was agreed upon, have moved now beyond that agreement and have taken action that is contrary to the tenor and spirit of our shared understanding."

I believe this action is a challenge to our understanding of the Instruments of Unity of the Anglican Communion.