Anglican church in turmoil
2003-08-09 19:07
London - The fierce debate over the appointment of a gay US bishop raged on within the Anglican church on Saturday, despite a call for reflection and prayer from the Archbishop of Canterbury, who has announced an emergency summit of senior clergy to head off a threatened split in the church.
Announcing the mid-October summit on Friday, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams said "anxieties" triggered by Tuesday's confirmation of openly gay cleric Gene Robinson as a bishop for the state of New Hampshire had to be confronted.
The meeting was called after various conservative church leaders including Archbishop of Nigeria Peter Akinola, head of the world's largest Anglican community, suggested Robinson's appointment would split the church.
Prior to Robinson's appointment, a group of 24 conservative US bishops had already threatened to leave the church if he was confirmed as bishop.
Peter Jensen, archbishop of Sydney, Australia - also known for his conservatism - said on Saturday that the decision to call the summit "indicates the gravity of the crisis".
Referring to the Anglican churches of Canada, the United States and Britain, traditionally more moderate than those in the developing world, Jensen told BBC Radio 4: "My guess is that even in these countries, a majority of Christians in the churches are opposed to this development."
But he played down threats of a split in the international Anglican Communion - which has 70 million members in 164 countries, grouped in 38 church 'provinces'.
"This is an innovation which has caused disunity," Jensen said. "Split, however, is a bit too strong a word."
Williams, who took office as Archbishop of Canterbury in February, is known for his liberal views and his support - in principle - for the appointment of gay clergy.
He said he had raised no objection to the appointment last month of the openly gay Canon Jeffrey John as bishop for the British town of Reading. John later withdrew his candidacy to avert a schism between conservative and liberal factions within the Church of England.
But Williams is taking extreme care not to compromise his ability to broker some kind of solution to the crisis threatening to engulf his church.
"I hope that in our deliberations we will find that there are ways forward in this situation which can preserve our respect for one another and for the bonds that unite us," he said on Friday, in a thinly-veiled call for an end to public bickering on the issue.
"I hope we can use the time between now and then to reflect, to pray, to consult and to take counsel."
But many liberal church leaders who have for years been quietly pushing for a more tolerant attitude towards homosexual clergy, are unlikely to miss what they see as an opportunity for gay colleagues to have their say at last.
"It will be very good to hear their voice in a debate that has been endangered and indeed hijacked by conservatives who, in fact, give evangelicals a bad name for narrowness and put many people off the church," said Colin Slee, the dean of London's borough of Southwark.