Archbishop of Canterbury 'regrets' TEC move to gay ordination

Ruth Gledhill
July 13, 2009

The Archbishop of Canterbury told General Synod today that he 'regrets' the decision by The Episcopal Church house of deputies to overturn the moratorium on the ordination of gay bishops. At the same time, the Presiding Bishop Katherine Jefferts Schori has warned the Church of England that it should not recognise the new Anglican Church in North America, arguing 'schism is not a Christian act.'

Responding to a question by Chris Sugden of Anglican Mainstream, Dr Williams said: 'As for General Convention it remains to be seen I think whether the vote of the House of Deputies will be endorsed by the House of Bishops. If the House of Bishops chooses to block then the moratorium remains. I regret the fact that there is not the will to observe the moratorium in such a significant part of the Church in North America but I can't say more about that as I have no details.' Dr Williams also responded to concerns about the funding for the 'listening process' saying that he had been personally involved in securing that funding and had been completely unaware of any 'agenda' attached to the funding. the rest