www.byzcath.org Forums General Discussions Town Hall Episcopal Diocese Seeks to Unite With Rome

Originally posted by ProCatholico:
I forgot to mention on my post above, if I am mistaken on any of this, please correct me.

Posted on Sat, Dec. 13, 2003

Church seeks to avoid schism

Associated Press

The head of the Episcopal Church says the denomination will resolve internal divisions over the consecration of its first openly gay bishop without direct intervention from overseas Anglican leaders.

Some U.S. conservatives who are opposed to ordaining gays are building a separate network of Episcopal churches and are appealing to Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams to provide direct oversight for them.

But Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold sent a letter last Friday to American bishops saying that, together, they will devise a plan providing alternative church leadership for dissenting congregations -- not Williams or others. A draft will be considered at the U.S. bishops' next meeting in March.

Williams is the spiritual leader of the 77-million-member Anglican Communion, which is represented in the United States by the Episcopal Church.

Griswold is working to avert a schism over V. Gene Robinson, who lives openly with his male partner and was elected bishop of New Hampshire this year.

The American Anglican Council, based in Washington, announced Monday that 13 U.S. bishops have agreed to establish the conservative Network of Anglican Communion Dioceses and Congregations, with Pittsburgh's Bishop Robert Duncan as moderator.

Sydney Archbishop eyes Anglican schism

By Gavin Simpson

SYDNEY'S Anglican Archbishop Peter Jensen has threatened to split the Church and transfer his allegiance from the Archbishop of Canterbury to the Primate of Nigeria over the issue of gay clergy.

"We must recognise the possibility that the Anglican communion will actually divide," Dr Jensen says in an interview which is to be screened on Channel 9's Sunday program tomorrow.

"It is conceivable, I have to say, that two world Anglicanisms may develop, perhaps with two mutually exclusive centres."

Instead of looking to the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, for moral authority, Sydney could "look more to Nigeria or some other place for the chairmanship of the board".

"It may be that we will find more of our fellowship with the global south churches than we do with the old western churches," he says.

The issue has been brought to a head by the ordination in America of gay bishop Gene Robinson and approval by the diocese of New Westminster of same-sex unions.

Dr Jensen said Dr William's authority had been jeopardised by his failure to take a harder line on Bishop Robinson's ordination. "He is against it because he doesn't like the disunity that's being caused. I'm hoping he would speak against it because it's wrong in itself," he said.

The Nigerian Church, the second biggest in the Anglican communion, has cut ties with the New Westminster diocese. The Church's Primate, Archbishop Peter Akinola, has issued a written warning to his flock to be prepared for a potential split.

Dr Jensen also threatens in the interview to withdraw Sydney, the nation's biggest and wealthiest Anglican diocese, from the Australian Church if it allowed active homosexuals to be ordained.

The Australian Primate, Perth's Archbishop Peter Carnley, has called Dr Jensen's comments unhelpful: "I think in America there is a possibility of a group going its own way, I think that's a possibility. But I don't think there's going to be that type of division within the Anglican communion as such," he said.