African Archbishop Lashes Out at U.S. Episcopal Church Liberals

In a sign of how difficult it may be to avoid a church schism over Anglicans’ treatment of homosexuality, a high-ranking African archbishop Tuesday angrily accused liberals of “subverting the faith” and assailed a report that called for reconciliation.

The strong response from Archbishop Peter Akinola, Anglican primate of Nigeria, signaled a rough road ahead as the archbishop of Canterbury and other leaders of the 77-million-member Anglican Communion seek adoption of the report on the U.S. Episcopal Church’s controversial elevation of a gay priest to bishop of New Hampshire. The Lambeth Commission report, issued Monday, called on Americans to apologize but did not aim at expelling the U.S. Episcopal wing from the worldwide Anglican Communion.

Akinola, whose 17-million-member Anglican Church of Nigeria is the largest Anglican body outside the Church of England, wields considerable influence. His criticism comes just days before a conference of African bishops convenes in Lagos, Nigeria. If most African church leaders agree with Akinola, approval of the Lambeth Commission report could prove difficult at an international meeting of bishops in Belfast, Northern Ireland, in February.

Despite a plea from Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, the spiritual head of Anglicanism, to avoid a “rush to judgment,” Akinola in a statement released here criticized the report’s call for both sides in the debate to express regrets.

Akinola was particularly upset by the recommendation that conservative bishops, including him and other Africans, stop claiming jurisdiction over conservative American parishes seeking help. In the Diocese of Los Angeles, for example, the Archbishop Henry Luke Orombi of Uganda agreed to supervise three dissident Southern California parishes.

“Where is the language of rebuke for those who are promoting sexual sins as holy and acceptable behavior?” Akinola asked. “The imbalance is bewildering. It is wrong to use equal language for unequal actions.”

“Instead of a clear call for repentance we have been offered warm words of sentimentality for those who have shown no godly sorrow for their actions and harsh words of condemnation for those who have reached out a helping hand to friends in need of pastoral and spiritual care,” Akinola said.

The report asked the Episcopal Church to express regret for not fully considering the worldwide effects of consecrating the Rt. Rev. V. Gene Robinson as bishop of New Hampshire last November. The report also called on U.S. and Canadian churches to cease blessing same-sex unions.

In New Hampshire, the Standing Committee of Robinson’s diocese issued a statement saying that it regretted the “pain and confusion” his consecration caused. But the group reaffirmed Robinson’s position as bishop and his efforts toward reconciliation.