Conservative Anglican leaders snub liberal U.S. bishop
By Katie Nguyen Fri Feb 16, 1:48 PM ET
DAR ES SALAAM (Reuters) - Seven conservative Anglican archbishops refused to take communion with the head of the U.S. branch of the church on Friday, in protest at her pro-gay stance in a row pushing the Church toward schism.
"This deliberate action is a poignant reminder of the brokenness of the Anglican Communion," said a statement posted on the Web site of the Anglican Church of Nigeria, led by Archbishop Peter Akinola.
"We are unable to take the Holy Table with the presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church because to do so would be a violation of the traditional Anglican teaching," it said.
The archbishops behind the move to snub U.S. presiding bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori at this week's Anglican meeting in Tanzania came from Africa, Asia and Latin America.
Their action highlights the disarray in the Anglican union of 38 self-governing churches as traditionalists in poorer countries -- where congregations are growing -- challenge the declining churches in the rich West.
The group said its boycott of holy communion with Jefferts Schori was to "declare that our relationship is either broken or impaired," in a sign the divisive issue of homosexuality may yet force a formal split among the world's 77 million Anglicans.
Jefferts Schori, the first female leader of the small but powerful U.S. Episcopal Church, has shown no sign of bowing to pressure from conservatives to denounce the consecration of openly gay bishop Gene Robinson in 2003.
An aide said she would continue to listen carefully to the concerns of her fellow primates despite the slight against her.
Jefferts Schori's refusal to back down has infuriated conservatives including Akinola, who heads the second largest province after the Church of England with 17.5 million members and is one of the fiercest Anglican critics of gay rights.
He has called homosexuality "an aberration unknown even in animal relationships," a view prevalent in Africa where gay relations are often taboo, or, as in the case of Tanzania, punishable with a jail sentence.
African Anglicans have criticized liberal trends, fearing they will lose followers to Islam and more conservative Christian denominations.
COVENANT
It is the second time senior Anglicans have sidelined the leader of the liberal U.S. church in recent years. Several primates refused to take communion alongside Frank Griswold, Jefferts Schori's predecessor at their last meeting in 2005.
The snub came a day after Anglican primates cloistered in an Indian Ocean beachfront hotel were presented with a report that said the U.S. church had made steps to address criticism for backing the Robinson elevation and same sex unions.
The assessment angered conservatives who say it was too soft on the Episcopal Church, which has become increasingly isolated in the long-simmering row.
Most archbishops in Africa, home to more than half the world's Anglicans, say ordaining gay clergy flouts Biblical commands. But, liberals argue the Anglican church in its 450 years of history has traditionally embraced diverse views.