After 13 years of rancor over conflicting views on homosexuality, the archbishops of the Anglican Communion have voted to impose sanctions for three years on the Episcopal Church, the American branch of the communion, for its decision last summer to allow clergy to perform same-sex marriages, church officials said on Thursday.
Advertisement
“For me, it is a constant source of deep sadness that people are persecuted for their sexuality”, Welby said at a news conference in Canterbury Cathedral, at the end of the meeting.
Justin Welby, Williams’ successor as archbishop of Canterbury, tried to ease the sting by apologizing for the “hurt and pain” the church had caused gay people over the years.
The Episcopal Church has been banned from taking part in ecumenical and interfaith bodies, internal committees or votes on doctrine or polity for a period of three years.
Tensions came to the fore in 2003 when Canon Gene Robinson, who was openly gay, was elected an Episcopal bishop.
The Anglican Church in North America (ACNA), which includes many conservatives who broke away from the Episcopal Church over its approach to marriage, said the sanctions were “a good step back in the right direction” but insufficient.
Other Anglican experts were mystified at the Anglican Communion’s statement, which consisted of eight brief points.
While conservative and liberal Christians have disagreed on the Anglican Communion’s decision to punish the Episcopal Church, they have united on the fact that it should have been more outspoken against any individual or state persecution of gay and transgender people. “It means we choose inclusion over exclusion, compassion over condemnation, and justice over judgment”. While traditional elders of the Anglicans were glad about the restriction, they said that the sanction did not go far enough.
“But the goal of ‘time out” is to change behavior, and the Episcopal Church has clearly spoken that it will not deviate from its chosen trajectory”. But he stressed the primary fear for the majority of Anglicans around the world “is the violence that confronts them and their families daily” amid armed conflicts and militant extremism.
The American church, similar to other religious dominations, have had a declining membership in recent years.
The top Episcopal legislative body, called General Convention, past year voted overwhelmingly to authorize same-sex marriage ceremonies in church.
“We’ve warned the government this was coming up”, Welby told reporters at a news conference in Canterbury, southeast England, where senior Anglicans have been meeting.
The Anglican Communion consists of 44 member churches from around the world, representing about 85 million Christians.
“For fellow disciples of Jesus in our church who are gay or lesbian this will bring more pain”, he said.
In remarks he has made available to Episcopal News Service, Curry said the Episcopal Church has a “commitment to be an inclusive church”.
It’s tempting to regard the fissures in the Anglican Communion as peculiar to that collection of churches, which trace their existence to the Church of England that separated from Roman Catholicism in the 16th century. Among the attendance was Church of Ireland primate Archbishop Richard Clarke. However, the Anglican Spiritual leader does not have to authority to force a compromise.
Advertisement
“We are loyal members of the Anglican Communion, but we need to say we must find a better way”, Curry said. The primates seem to have acted out of fear, even while the Episcopal Church acted out of love in changing its cannon laws.
