Top Anglican cleric warns against gay rights split

PARIS (Reuters) – A senior Anglican archbishop has said the
worldwide Anglican church must not become so polarised over the
issue of gay rights that other Christian denominations can no
longer take it seriously.

Archbishop Robin Eames, head of a task force that tried to
bridge the gap between Third World conservatives and North
American liberals, said the 77 million strong Anglican
Communion had to create a stronger central authority to mediate
disputes.

Traditionalist Anglican provinces, mostly in Africa, have
cut off ties with their liberal western brethren amid
condemnations so strong they come close to declaring a schism.

Led by Nigerian Archbishop Peter Akinola, provinces from
the so-called Global South will meet in Egypt later this month
but Akinola has said the session will not discuss breaking away
from the Anglican Communion led by the Archbishop of
Canterbury.

“There needs to be much greater understanding of the
long-term consequences of developments which could turn the
diverse voice of the Anglican Communion into a divided family
that other traditions of the Christian Church would find it
hard to take seriously,” Eames said on Wednesday.

Eames, who is primate of Ireland, called for more authority
for the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, and added:
“We can no longer live with the danger of major crisis such as
at present.”

The Anglican Communion has been tearing itself apart since
2003, when the U.S. Episcopal Church ordained a gay man a
bishop and Canadian Anglicans began blessing same-sex couples.
The traditionalists condemn homosexuality as a sin and a
scandal.

In a lecture at an Episcopal seminary outside Washington,
the text of which was distributed by the Anglican Communion,
Eames noted the Windsor Report he presented in October 2004
concluded that Anglican provinces should give up some of their
autonomy in the interest of keeping their Communion together.

It recommended that the traditionally autonomous member
churches should adopt a covenant of agreed belief and resolve
future disputes by referring them to the Archbishop of
Canterbury and a panel of advisers.

But he stressed this would not create so much central
authority that the Communion could issue a blanket condemnation
of a member church if it tried “to accommodate the reality of
faithful Christians who happen to be homosexually oriented.

“To do otherwise is to court schism,” he declared.