Canada's Gay move pushes Anglicans closer to schism*

By Paul Majendie
Reuters
Tuesday, October 16, 2007; 9:42 AM

LONDON (Reuters) - Faced with a bid from Canadian clerics to bless gay
weddings, the worldwide Anglican Communion now faces a real risk of
breaking apart over differences between its liberal and conservative wings.

"The train and the buffers are getting closer," said religious
journalist and commentator Clifford Longley.

"The Anglican Church is unraveling," Longley concluded as Archbishop of
Canterbury Rowan Williams struggled to keep his global flock of 77
million Anglicans together in a bitter war of words over homosexuality.

The latest challenge to Williams, spiritual head of the Anglican Church,
came from Ottawa.

The local branch of the Anglican church in the Canadian capital asked
Ottawa Bishop John Chapman to authorize the blessing of homosexual
marriages.

Chapman is an advocate of such blessings and if he approves the request
it is likely to enrage the "Global South" -- conservative churches in
Africa, Latin America and Asia -- and increase the chances of a
worldwide split.

American liberals sparked the row by ordaining openly gay Gene Robinson
as bishop of New Hampshire in 2003.

In sharp contrast to the regimented hierarchy of the larger Roman
Catholic Church, the Anglican communion is largely run by broad consensus.

But Williams faces a pivotal decision on which primates he invites to
next year's Lambeth conference, the 10-yearly gathering of Anglican leaders.

"When preparing that guest list, he is acting as the Anglican Pope. He
has the list, he has that pencil," Longley said. "It all turns on
whether Gene Robinson is invited to Lambeth."

Archbishop of York John Sentamu, one of Williams' closest allies, has
already warned Anglican conservatives that boycotting the church summit
means they would effectively be expelling themselves from the worldwide
communion.

The Episcopal Church, its 2.4 million-member U.S. branch, has already
splintered over the issue with a growing number of conservative U.S.
clerics pledging allegiance to African bishops who take a tough line
against homosexuality.

Church Times Editor Paul Handley, reflecting on the latest move from
Ottawa, said: "It's inevitable that a number of North American dioceses
are going to try and square the circle in different ways.