The Economist: The turbulence of priests
Sep 27th 2007

IN NEW ORLEANS it is hard to stop talking about hurricanes, even metaphorically. “People came here thinking this was going to be Katrina II,” said Gene Robinson, the gay American Episcopalian whose ordination as bishop in 2003 plunged the worldwide Anglican Communion of churches into crisis. In the end, reported Katherine Jefferts Schori, who led 160 Episcopalian prelates in six hard days of deliberation, they found “common ground to stand on...high ground”.

Will the elevation be sufficient? Faced with the risk of a fiasco at next summer's Lambeth conference—a once-a-decade gathering in England for all the communion's bishops—the Americans were pondering how far they could go to meet conservative demands that they stop elevating gay bishops and blessing same-sex couples. Without concessions from the American side—so the Africans and other conservatives had made clear—Lambeth might face a mass boycott. the rest