The Anglican Community risks schism on the question of homosexuality, declared Rowan Williams, archbishop of Canterbury and theological leader of the Church of England, during an interview he gave in Khartoum, in Sudan, where he is currently visiting some aid programmes. According to the archbishop, an internal division of the Communion could require decades to heal. Ever since Gene Robinson, a self-confessed homosexual vicar was elected a bishop in the US Episcopalian church three years ago, the division between liberals and conservatives has continued to threaten cohesion within the Anglican Communion, so much so that the primates of the Anglican churches in Africa and in the developing world have already threatened secession. A crucial stage in the debate on homosexuality will take place in June when members of the US Episcopalian Church of Ohio will be asked to review the election of the homosexual bishop Gene Robinson in 2003. Another homosexual bishop could be elected in the diocese of San Francisco.
