Papua New Guinea has become the fourth province to formally adopt the proposed Anglican Covenant.
The Anglican Church of Papua New Guinea has announced that its provincial council has approved and accepted the Anglican Covenant, according to an article on the Anglican Communion News Service.
The covenant is a set of principles intended to bind the Anglican Communion amid differences and disputes across its 38 provinces.
Papua New Guinea becomes the fourth province formally to adopt or accept the covenant, the others being Burma, Mexico and the West Indies. The Church of Ireland subscribed to the covenant in May 2011, but its general synod underscored that the covenant did not supplant existing governing documents.
Recent Maori action in the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia indicates that the covenant will be rejected when it comes before that province’s general synod in July 2011.
The province of Papua New Guinea is made up of five dioceses: Aipo Rongo, Dogura, New Guinea Islands, Popondota and Port Moresby. It has more than 100 parishes, as well as a number of mission districts. Around 170 priests are engaged in active ministries.