TANZANIA: Anglicans gather in Tanzania for a potentially fractious meeting

The spiritual leader of the world's 77 million Anglicans has invoked the power of prayer to help him save the church from schism over gay priests and same-sex marriages at a crucial meeting this week. Some commentators say it will be a personal disaster for Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams if he fails to reconcile a liberal minority and conservative majority spilt over the issues during a six-day summit that opened in Africa on Wednesday (February 14). The Tanzania meeting is shaping up to be the biggest clash yet between Global South conservatives in Africa, Asia and Latin America -- where the Anglican church is growing -- and liberals in the more affluent West -- where congregations are shrinking. Conservatives say homosexuality is sinful and unbiblical while liberals say the church should focus on tackling poverty, AIDS and the challenge to Christianity from Islam. Tensions in the Anglican Communion, a loose federation of 38 national churches, flared into a near revolt by the Global South when an openly gay bishop, Gene Robinson, was named in the United States in 2003. Traditionalist primates are threatening to snub their U.S. counterpart Katharine Jefferts Schori for supporting Robinson and same-sex unions. They have even persuaded Williams to invite a conservative Episcopal bishop to the meeting with her. In preparation for Williams, the Global South has set up camp in an Indian Ocean beachfront hotel to discuss the way forward. Next door, U.S. Episcopalians are doing the same. But, it was unlikely the two sides would meet before the summit, one official said. Many delegates hope Williams will keep the warring factions together until he calls the Lambeth Conference, the church's 10-yearly gathering, in 2008. Rwanda's Archbishop Emmanuel Kolini said the Global South may recommend the U.S. Episcopal Church appoint what he called a moderator as an alternative to Jefferts Schori. However, some officials say such a move would set a worrying precedent for other churches within the Communion, the third-largest Christian denomination, deepening the split rather than healing it. Anglican officials hoped that this could be avoided. "The Windsor Report said that in order to rebuild trust within the Anglican Communion, a number of things would have to happen. Firstly, that they would have to have an moratorium on the election of a bishops living in a sexual relationship outside marriage. Secondly that there would have to be a moratorium on public rights of blessing of same sex unions. Thirdly that there would have to be an end to cross border interventions. Fourthly that there would have to be a listening process across the communion whereby the churches of Anglican Communion seriously listened to what each other were saying and teaching about questions of sexual ethics," Deputy Secretary of the Anglican Communion, Gregory Cameron said on Wednesday (February 14). Here are some key facts about the Anglican church. * STRUCTURE: -- There are approximately 77 million baptised Anglicans. -- The denomination has 38 self-governing churches, made up of 500 dioceses, 30,000 parishes and 64,000 individual congregations in 164 countries. -- The Anglican Communion's largest provinces are England (26 million), Nigeria (17.5 million), Uganda (8 million), Sudan (5 million), Kenya (2.5 million) and Tanzania (2 million). Regular church-goers in Africa easily outnumber those in Britain. There are also 2.4 million adherents in the Episcopal Church, the United States member church in the Communion. -- The Anglican Communion is loosely linked by four "instruments of unity" -- the Archbishop of Canterbury (currently Dr Rowan Williams), the decision-making Anglican Consultative Council, the 10-yearly Lambeth Conferences and the more frequent Primates' Meetings. -- The Archbishop of Canterbury calls the Lambeth Conference and heads the Anglican Consultative Council. He is a "first among equals" (primus inter pares) but does not have doctrinal or organisational powers such as those of a Roman Catholic pope. * WHAT IS ANGLICANISM? -- Anglicanism became the established church in England after King Henry VIII broke with Rome in 1534 to divorce his first wife. It is a "broad church" with elements common both to Catholicism (liturgy, sacraments, bishops) and Protestantism (more flexible doctrinal interpretation, married clergy, decentralised structure). Its links to Catholic tradition have fostered dialogue with the Vatican, but the issues of women clergy and gay bishops have strained relations in recent years. * DIVISIONS INSIDE THE CHURCH: -- The Anglican Communion is deeply divided over homosexuality. In North America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand, some Anglican churches ordain non-celibate gay clergy and bless same-sex unions. The Church of England accepts gay clergy if they are celibate. -- The Episcopal Church broke ranks in 2003 to ordain Gene Robinson of New Hampshire, the first openly gay bishop in Anglican history. This raised the issue of authority within the Communion and raised the spectre of a schism. -- Most Anglican churches in Africa, West Indies and Asia condemn homosexuality as sinful and reject it for their priests. In some of the most prominent defections, the conservative Falls Church and Truro Church, both in Virginia, voted to break away from the Episcopal Church in 2006 and affiliate with the Anglican Church of Nigeria, led by Archbishop Peter Akinola.

ITN Source | February 15, 2007

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