MINNEAPOLIS,
Minnesota, August 6 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - The
Episcopal Church USA confirmed the election of its first gay bishop in
an historic vote that opponents warned could cause a permanent schism
in church ranks, while Canterbury Archbishop and the spiritual leader
of the world's Anglicans foreseeing "difficult days" ahead.
A
majority of the church's House of Bishops on Tuesday, August 5, voted
to ratify Reverend Gene Robinson's appointment as bishop of New
Hampshire, ending three days of contentious debate, church officials
said.
Conservatives
within the two-million strong U.S. denomination and the wider
international Anglican communion have fiercely opposed Robinson's
appointment on the grounds it violates Biblical teachings, and warned
it could lead to a schism in the church, reported Agence France-Presse
(AFP).
"This
body has divided itself from millions of Anglican Christians around
the world," stressed Robert Duncan, bishop of Pittsburgh.
"With
grief too deep for words, the bishops who stand before you must reject
this action," he said.
Surrounded
by 19 other colleagues, Duncan called on the primates of the Anglican
Communion and the Archbishop of Canterbury "to intervene in this
pastoral emergency that has overtaken us."
Conservatives
said they would meet in October with traditionalist Anglican prelates
from Africa and South America to plan a response to what they called
the Episcopal Church's liberal drift into "false doctrine."
Others
said they hoped to create a new Anglican province in North America and
petition other Anglican primates, including the Archbishop of
Canterbury, to recognize it in lieu of the Episcopal Church.
The
American Anglican Council, a conservative Episcopal group, said it
would convene a special session of mainstream Episcopal parishes in
Plano, Texas, in early October to arrange their next move.
"The
Episcopal Church USA has shattered the Anglican Communion," the
group said in a statement.
"The
Episcopal Church has departed from the historical Christian faith. We
reject these actions of our church."
Reflection
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Williams,
spiritual leader of the world's Anglicans, warned of
"difficult days" ahead
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The
leaders of the Episcopal Church USA, and the nominal figurehead of the
globe's 74 million Anglicans, the Archbishop of Canterbury, called for
a period of reflection.
"I
ask you all to be profoundly sensitive to each other," the
Episcopal Church's presiding bishop Frank Griswold said, acknowledging
that it was "a difficult moment," for many people.
"It
is my hope that the church in America and the rest of the Anglican
Communion will have the opportunity to consider this development
before significant and irrevocable decisions are made in
response," said Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams.
Robinson,
a divorced father of two who attended this week's general convention
with his male companion of 13 years, also struck a conciliatory note,
saying "there is no reason for us to come apart over this
decision.
"I
believe God is doing a new thing in opening up the church for gay and
lesbian people."
Many
analysts have pointed out that while the elevation of a gay man has
roiled the church, and put the more liberal U.S. Episcopal Church at
odds with the more conservative Anglican congregations in the
developing world, the denomination survived similar turmoil in 1976
when it voted to ordain women.
"I
think we might see some splintering, but not a real division,"
said the Reverend Charles Bennison of the diocese of Pennsylvania.
"Catastrophic"
For
his part, the Anglican archbishop of Sydney on Wednesday predicted a
split in the church following the "catastrophic" election of
an openly gay bishop by the Episcopal Church USA.
Archbishop
Peter Jensen said the election of Robinson showed the Houses of
Bishops in the U.S. Episcopal church had "turned away from the
traditional teaching of the Christian church".
"This
catastrophic decision cannot simply be allowed to pass away into
history as a one-off aberration," Jensen said in a statement.
"It
represents a time for decision by mainstream, biblical Anglicans
around the world and undoubtedly will result in a significant
realignment of relationship within the communion."
Jensen
recently told members of his congregation they would not be welcome if
they supported ultimately unsuccessful moves in Britain to make gay
priest Jeffrey John the Bishop of Reading.
"Difficult
Days Ahead"
"I
have said before that we need as a church to be very careful about
making decisions for our own part of the world which constrain the
church elsewhere," said Williams, the spiritual leader of the
world's Anglicans.
His
spokesman said: "The Archbishop of Canterbury has said that
difficult days lie ahead for the Anglican Church after the decision of
the Episcopal Church of the United States of America to confirm the
election of Canon Gene Robinson as Bishop of New Hampshire."
Williams
said the U.S. decision to approve the appointment "will
inevitably have a significant impact on the Anglican Communion
throughout the world and it is too early to say what the result of
that will be."
He
added it "will be vital to ensure that the concerns and needs of
those across the Communion who are gravely concerned at this
development can be heard, understood and taken into account."
Back
home in Britain, Williams was confronted with a row over gay clergy
when he accepted the resignation last month of Canon Jeffrey John, a
homosexual British cleric who was appointed Bishop of Reading,
southeast England, in May 2003.
John,
who has had a male partner for 27 years, but says it is now a celibate
relationship, turned down his nomination on July 6.
British
newspapers suggested he had acted under pressure from the staff of the
Archbishop of Canterbury, who feared the appointment could spark a
rift in the church and its some 70 million adherents worldwide.
Conservative
Anglicans across the world fear that the liberal wing of the church is
moving secretly to promote gay marriages.
In
Africa in particular, Church leaders including the Archbishop of
Nigeria, Peter Akinola, have denounced homosexuality as an
abomination.
Williams
heard strong criticism from senior churchmen of homosexuality within
the Anglican clergy during a recent trip to west Africa, AFP said.
The
London-based Independent newspaper said Wednesday that Williams
faced an "immediate crisis" after the U.S. move, with
Anglican conservatives looking to him to voice disapproval of
Robinson's appointment.
"Enfolded
In Love "
Paying
no heed to worldwide opposition, Robinson said Wednesday he had
"great confidence" that rifts caused by his appointment
could be healed.
"I
feel enfolded in love," he told BBC.
"I
would agree with the Archbishop of Canterbury that there will be
difficult days ahead, that is no surprise to anyone," he said.
"But
I must say that I have great confidence in the Archbishop of
Canterbury and all of our bishops and all of our churches that somehow
we can heal whatever rifts show themselves in the coming days, months
and years."
Robinson,
speaking on BBC radio's Today program, said Wednesday that he
"hardly knew how to respond" to the accusation.
"In
that 24-hour period, seeing my name on TV and hearing my name in the
same sentence as sexual misconduct and pornography was not an easy
thing to stand by and watch and not be affected by."
