ecumenism" "
At the end of a six-day meeting at Camp Allen, in Texas, the “House of Bishops” of the Episcopal Church of the USA (ECUSA) almost unanimously adopted a final communiqué in which they accept the “provisional” measures that the Anglican Primates had asked for, i.e. to suspend for at least a year any episcopal election and not authorize further rites for the blessing of homosexual unions. The archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, welcomed the American decision as “a constructive response” of the Episcopal bishops to the split that has been threatening the Anglican Communion since 2003, following the blessing of gay marriages in Canada and the ordination of an openly homosexual bishop in the USA. “The US bishops said Williams “have clearly sought to respond positively to the requests made to them in the Windsor Report and in the communiqué issued after the recent Primates Meeting. It is clear that has been a real willingness to engage with the challenges posed”. In February, at the end of an “emergency meeting”, the Anglican Primates had asked the USA and Canada for a kind of “moratorium” both on rites for the blessing of homosexual unions and on the consecration of any other openly gay bishop. In their communiqué the US bishops express their “deep regret for the grief caused to others” and offer “their most sincere apologies”. The bishops point out that they do not have the authority to impose the moratorium on the dioceses. “Despite that says the statement this extraordinary moment in our common life requires extraordinary actions”. The bishops have therefore decided to undertake the measures requested “to help create a time of healing”.
