Church split asunder on homosexual issue
Church leaders meet today to discuss the thorny issue of homosexuality in the Anglican communion.
The Archbishop of Canterbury meets church leaders at his residence at Lambeth Palace in London hoping to save the Anglican Church from self-implosion.
In a bid to ward off a schism at the heart of the worldwide Anglican Communion, Rowan Williams will urge the 37 archbishops and bishops representing the world’s 70-million Anglican followers, to seek a path beyond the current impasse over the ordination of gay and lesbian clergy.
But he is expected to repeat his assertion made at the 1998 Lambeth Conference that homosexuality was “incompatible with scripture.”
Hardliners reading the Bible literally insist that homosexuality is a “sin.”
The meeting was called after Canon Gene Robinson, an openly gay priest, was elected as Bishop of New Hampshire in the US.
Around 30 conservative archbishops, mainly from Africa and America, are expected to demand the expulsion of the United States Episcopalian Church from the Anglican Communion; the church which approved Canon Robinson’s appointment.
Dr Williams sits on the horns of a gargantuan dilemma for the Church. Dr Williams, a liberal, may have to side with hardliners if he wants to retain unity among the different leaders.
But the US Episcopal Church has 2.3 million members and financial assets estimated at more than £1.2 billion in annual donations.
