Gay rift in church widens
2005-02-25 12:38
London - Anglican leaders struggling to resolve explosive differences over homosexuality have asked the US Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church of Canada to temporarily withdraw from a key council of their global communion because of the election of a gay bishop in the United States and the blessing of same-sex unions there and in Canada.
The request was made following a Northern Ireland meeting that the Anglican leaders, or primates, convened on the crisis this week. Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, the spiritual leader of the 77 million-member world Anglican Communion, did not comment but was to appear at a news conference on Friday.
The Episcopal Church, which is the US province of Anglicanism, precipitated the most serious rift in the communion's history when it consecrated V Gene Robinson as bishop of New Hampshire in November 2003. Robinson lives with his long-time male partner. Conservatives have also criticised North American dioceses for allowing blessing ceremonies for same-sex couples.
The North Americans have been asked not to attend the next meeting of the Anglican Consultative Council, which is a body of bishops, priests and lay people from national Anglican churches who meet and consult in between the once-a-decade Lambeth Conferences for the primates.
However, Anglican leaders also recommended a special hearing be organised at the council's gathering in June to allow the North American churches to send representatives who could explain their views on homosexuality.
North American provinces 'suspended'
"In the meantime, we ask our fellow primates to use their best influence to persuade their brothers and sisters to exercise a moratorium on public rites of blessing for same-sex unions and on the consecration of any bishop living in a sexual relationship outside Christian marriage," the statement said.
Conservatives who lead the Anglican Communion Network, which represents dissenting Episcopal dioceses and churches in the United States, argued that the primates' request meant that the two North American provinces "have been effectively suspended" from the communion.
But James Naughton, a spokesperson for the Episcopal Diocese of Washington, DC, and a supporter of Robinson's, disagreed, calling the report an "elegant compromise". He said Episcopalians could easily accept temporary withdrawal from the council, if it would create more time for Anglicans to find ways to remain unified.
Archbishop of Perth Peter Carnley, the primate of Australia's Anglican church, told British Broadcasting Corp radio the move was not a step toward a collapse of the communion.
"What we're doing is creating a space ... for some genuine talking and listening to go on," he said.
- AP