An injury for all Christians” “

After months of debate, the Rev. Gene Robinson, who has lived with a male partner for 14 years, was consecrated bishop of the diocese of New Hampshire, in the USA. Robinson has thus become the first bishop of the Anglican Communion to openly declare himself gay. His ordination has however caused strong divisions within the Anglican world, so much so that the press agency, the Anglican Communion News Service (based in London), spoke of one of the “most controversial and destructive moments in the history of the Anglican Communion”. The ceremony. Over 3,000 guests gathered in the Whittemore Center in Durham to participate in the ordination ceremony (which lasted two hours). A further 54 bishops and ecumenical guests were also present. There came a moment in the rite when Bishop Griswold, who officiated the ceremony, asked the congregation whether there was anyone who knew any reasons why the Rev. Robinson should not become bishop. The first to speak up was Meredith Harwood of the Episcopalian Church, who said: “This is an act of defiance, destined to cause divisions. The great majority of Anglicans throughout the world asked us not to take this decision which many see as a scandal. We have been deaf to these requests”. The Rev. David Bena, bishop of the diocese of Albany (New York), read out a communiqué signed by another 38 bishops of the Episcopalian Church, declaring inter alia: “it is impossible to present as a candidate a bishop, symbol of unity, whose consecration is the cause of division throughout the Anglican Communion”. The comment of the Archbishop of Canterbury. Many asked in recent days for an authoritative intervention by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams. “One had been fully aware of the fact – the Archbiship pointed out in a communiqué issued in London – that the episcopal ordination of Gene Robinson in New Hampshire would cause serious consequences for the cohesion of the Anglican Communion”. That’s why, adds Williams, at the last meeting of Anglican leaders held last month, “the setting up of a Commission which would have the task of examining these consequences in depth was requested. Last week the names of the members that will form part of the study group were announced and I can’t wait to get into touch with them and with the developments of their work”. “It is clear – added Williams – that those who ordained Gene Robinson acted in good faith”. “The independence of the Anglican provinces – explained the primate – is an important principle. But just because we are linked by a network of relations far more than by a series of rules, consultations and interdependence are essential for us”. “We must work hard – concluded the archbishop – to give new substance to this [interdependence] and pray that wisdom, patience and courage may lead us forward”. A comment by the Catholic Church. “Simple and clear words that reaffirm the pastoral and ecumenical commitment in its original source and its founding inspiration. Words that invite hope”: Msgr. Elio Bromuri, Italian expert on ecumenical dialogue, shares the declarations of the archbishop of Canterbury and affirms: “It’s a scandal in the strong sense of the term, and Archbishop Williams finds himself having to conduct a role of mediation and admonition aimed at safeguarding the little scope for unity possible in an institution in which the ecclesiastical criteria of reference are very weak. It’s enough to think that the view of the majority of the ‘primates’ of the Anglican Churches, contrary to the ordination of Robinson, was ignored. The scandal consists, as in other questions that divide the Churches, in not taking into due account the main source of the Church’s fidelity and credibility: unity (‘one, holy, catholic and apostolic’).