Difficult days” “

The controversy aroused by the ordination of a gay bishop in the USA and the blessing of homosexual “marriages” in Canada is still bitter and causing great suffering within the Anglican Communion. At the end of an emergency meeting held in Northern Ireland from 20 to 25 February, the more traditionalist bishops asked their colleagues in the USA and Canada, considered too liberal on these matters, to resign from the Anglican Consultative Council up till 2008, the date on which the discussion will be resumed. A TROUBLED HISTORY. The media are already speaking of a schism. The split – which London is trying to patch up with great difficulty – dates back to 2003 and was caused by the blessing of gay weddings in Canada and the ordination of an openly homosexual bishop in the USA, Gene Robinson. Already at that time, some primates representing the provinces of the southern hemisphere – headed by the Nigerian Peter Akinola – had declared, in a long communiqué of protest, that they were no longer in communion with the pro-gay provinces. This was a major split, given that a quarter of all the Anglicans in the world live in Nigeria. The archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, was forced to intervene on the question. At the request of the primates themselves, he set up a Commission to examine the issue (Lambeth Commission). After a year of meetings and consultations, it published a 93-page report (Windsor Report) on 18 October 2004. It invited Bishop Robinson to resign. THE MEETING IN IRELAND. In spite of the Lambeth Commission and the Windsor Report, the question was not resolved and so an emergency meeting was called at Newry, in Northern Ireland, from 20 to 25 February. It was attended by 35 primates of the 38 Anglican provinces throughout the world. At the end of the meeting, a long communiqué was published, divided into 22 paragraphs in which the Episcopal Church of the USA and the Anglican Church of Canada are asked (in paragraph 14) to “voluntarily withdraw their members from the Anglican Consultative Council for the period leading up to the next Lambeth Conference”, scheduled for 2008. In paragraph 18, the Anglican primates ask for a kind of “moratorium” both on public Rites of Blessing for same-sex unions and on the consecration of any other openly gay bishop. “These strategies – says paragraph 19 of the communiqué – are intended to restore the full trust of our bonds of affection across the Communion”. THE AMERICANS. But the Americans don’t seem to have any intention of backing down. According to Bishop STEVE CHARLESTON, “Gene is for us like a champion for human rights”. Bishop FRANK GRISWOLD, who ordained Robinson, used more conciliatory tones: “These aren’t easy days for any of us”. And he added: “I continue to have faith and trust in the many ways in which the mystery of communion is kept alive among us”. The Australian bishop PETER CARNLEY expressed the slight hope that between now and 2008 the situation would not precipitate. The archbishop of Canterbury, ROWAN WILLIAMS, has given his assurance that there is a strong will in the Anglican Church to solve the problems, but does not conceal the gravity of the question. “Giving ourselves time to speak clearly to each other must be considered a positive development”, said Williams. He expressed the hope that this pause for reflection would lead to a compromise. “It could end up with further division. Let’s hope not. We shall try to avoid it”. A HOPE. According to Father PETER FLEETWOOD, member of the CCEE, it is significant that the community that “triggered so strong a reaction against the Churches of the USA and Canada was the Anglican Church of Nigeria”. This shows that the question has a strong cultural root. “European and North American culture – points out Fleetwood – seems to be pushing toward a readiness for compromise that African culture does not have. In the Catholic Church, such a thing would not happen because we have a very clear doctrinal structure. It is a unity that works with a willingness to accept many things so long as unity is maintained. But this often requires sacrificing personal preferences for the sake of unity. It is difficult to say so without giving the impression of wishing to teach something”. On the other hand, the search for this balance is “a challenge that is also posed to the Catholic Church, which is not devoid of tensions. That’s why we feel very close to the Anglican Communion” at this time, and hope it may re-discover the “charity that does not compromise on the moral level but that builds in brotherhood”.