Church is rebuked over gay unions and a gay bishop

L. Goodstein

An Anglican Church commission rebuked the Episcopal Church USA yesterday for ordaining an openly gay bishop in New Hampshire and for blessing same-sex unions, and called for a moratorium on both practices "until some new consensus in the Anglican Communion emerges."In a report issued in London, the commission asked the Episcopal Church to apologize for causing pain and division in the global Anglican Communion, the second-largest church body in the world, with 77 million members in 164 countries.The report also calls for the bishops who consecrated the gay bishop, V. Gene Robinson, to consider withdrawing from Anglican "functions" until they offer "an expression of regret." The current and former presiding bishops of the Episcopal Church were among the more than three dozen bishops who encircled Bishop Robinson last November and consecrated him with a laying on of hands.The report puts the onus on the Episcopal Church to apologize for the consecration of Bishop Robinson and to stop blessing same-sex couples or risk severing ties with other members of the Communion. Commission members said such a step was also necessary to maintain the Anglican Church's relationships with the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches, and with Muslims in countries like Nigeria, home to 17 million Anglicans.