www.canadianchristianity.com/cgi-bin/na.cgi?nationalupdates/040527anglicans
By Peter T. Chattaway
ANGLICANS across Canada expressed their surprise and sympathy last week, as Edmonton Bishop Victoria Matthews announced she was withdrawing her name from the list of candidates currently being considered to lead the church as its next Primate.
In a statement sent to her clergy May 19, Bishop Matthews said she was withdrawing from the primatial election because she had been diagnosed with breast cancer. She said she expected to be on medical disability leave for up to one year.
"There is the expectation of full recovery," she wrote. "As far as I'm concerned I have lots more ministry ahead of me."
The news came as a shock to some conservative Anglicans, who have been hoping that the church would permit them to serve under an alternative bishop in cases where their own diocesan bishop advocates the blessing of same-sex unions.
Bishop Matthews was recently head of a task force that recommended the church implement a form of "temporary alternative episcopal oversight" as a "safety net" for dissenting Anglicans. However, the Canadian House of Bishops declined to endorse the report and its recommendations when it last met in April.