(RNS) The head of Canada’s Anglican Church is trying to reassure the country’s Jewish community that his church has no plans to divest from companies that do business with Israel.
Archbishop Andrew Hutchison, primate of the church, told an annual interfaith gathering April 5 at Canada’s largest synagogue that no plan for divestment has come before the Anglican Church of Canada, “nor is such a proposal on the agenda for consideration.”
The congress welcomed the announcement, but expressed concern that the phrase “at this time” meant the issue would be on the church’s agenda one day soon.
Last fall, the Council of General Synod, the church’s governing body in between triennial General Synods, passed a resolution urging its eco-justice committee to request that an ecumenical justice group research the activities of companies “believed to be contributing to ongoing violence in Israel and Palestine.”
The resolution also issued a call to “explore a range of socially responsible investment strategies, including corporate engagement and positive investment or divestment.”
Hutchison said there have been calls for divestment from various groups following a call made by the Palestinian Anglican bishop in Jerusalem to divest from Caterpillar Inc., which sells bulldozers to Israel.
Earlier this year, the Church of England’s General Synod adopted a resolution to heed the call “for morally responsible investment in the Palestinian occupied territories, and in particular, to disinvest from companies profiting from (Israel’s) illegal occupation.”
