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Anglican Leaders’ Move Praised, Criticized
Thu Apr 14, 2005 02:57 PM ET
By Michael Conlon
CHICAGO (Reuters) - The leader of the Anglican church on Thursday commended U.S. Episcopal bishops for their latest concession in a dispute over the consecration of the church’s first openly gay bishop, but a conservative group accused the bishops of deception.
The developments came a day after U.S. bishops announced they would withdraw at least temporarily from the Anglican Consultative Council, a key representative body of the 77 million-member worldwide Anglican church.
A voluntary withdrawal from that body was requested by Anglican leaders when they met in Northern Ireland earlier this year to try to deal with the gay bishop issue that has divided the Church of England.
Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams released a letter to the leaders of the U.S. bishops thanking them and saying, “You have acted very generously and constructively and I hope this will bear the fruit that it should.”
The consultative council is scheduled to meet in June in Nottingham, England. In their announcement on Wednesday the U.S. church leaders said they would send informal representatives to the meeting but not formally participate.
The move was criticized by the American Anglican Council, which says it represents tens of thousands of conservative Episcopalians in the 2.3 million-member U.S. church.
“We find it very disturbing that the Episcopal Church leadership met in seclusion, continuing a pattern of secrecy,” the group said of Wednesday’s closed meeting near Chicago.
The bishops were told to stand down from the consultative group, the statement said, but in planning to send informal representatives, the U.S. church leadership appears to the trying to circumvent the directive.
The U.S. bishops are under attack from Anglicans for consecrating Bishop Gene Robinson of New Hampshire, believed to be the first bishop known to be in a same-sex relationship in the history of the Anglican church.
Last month, the U.S. bishops decided not to appoint any new bishops or publicly bless same-sex unions for at least the next year to provide time for healing and discussion on the issue.
Unresolved is the central question which has torn the church since 2003 – whether consecrating an openly gay bishop was a legitimate move in the first place.
The U.S. bishops last month expressed “deep regret for the pain that others have experienced” because of actions taken in 2003 that led to Robinson’s selection.
reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=domesticNews&storyID=8185337
Thu Apr 14, 2005 02:57 PM ET
By Michael Conlon
CHICAGO (Reuters) - The leader of the Anglican church on Thursday commended U.S. Episcopal bishops for their latest concession in a dispute over the consecration of the church’s first openly gay bishop, but a conservative group accused the bishops of deception.
The developments came a day after U.S. bishops announced they would withdraw at least temporarily from the Anglican Consultative Council, a key representative body of the 77 million-member worldwide Anglican church.
A voluntary withdrawal from that body was requested by Anglican leaders when they met in Northern Ireland earlier this year to try to deal with the gay bishop issue that has divided the Church of England.
Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams released a letter to the leaders of the U.S. bishops thanking them and saying, “You have acted very generously and constructively and I hope this will bear the fruit that it should.”
The consultative council is scheduled to meet in June in Nottingham, England. In their announcement on Wednesday the U.S. church leaders said they would send informal representatives to the meeting but not formally participate.
The move was criticized by the American Anglican Council, which says it represents tens of thousands of conservative Episcopalians in the 2.3 million-member U.S. church.
“We find it very disturbing that the Episcopal Church leadership met in seclusion, continuing a pattern of secrecy,” the group said of Wednesday’s closed meeting near Chicago.
The bishops were told to stand down from the consultative group, the statement said, but in planning to send informal representatives, the U.S. church leadership appears to the trying to circumvent the directive.
The U.S. bishops are under attack from Anglicans for consecrating Bishop Gene Robinson of New Hampshire, believed to be the first bishop known to be in a same-sex relationship in the history of the Anglican church.
Last month, the U.S. bishops decided not to appoint any new bishops or publicly bless same-sex unions for at least the next year to provide time for healing and discussion on the issue.
Unresolved is the central question which has torn the church since 2003 – whether consecrating an openly gay bishop was a legitimate move in the first place.
The U.S. bishops last month expressed “deep regret for the pain that others have experienced” because of actions taken in 2003 that led to Robinson’s selection.
reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=domesticNews&storyID=8185337
