Beleaguered Is The Peacemaker

The archbishop of Canterbury's latest move to prevent a schism in the worldwide Anglican Communion leaves both sides unhappy.
By Jacqueline L. Salmon
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, August 1, 2009

T he archbishop of Canterbury, the spiritual leader of the worldwide Anglican Communion, is not a popular man these days. Beset from both sides of his fractured flock, it seems that he can't do anything right.

His latest proposal to hold together the warring factions, a two-track system that could give his rebellious U.S. Episcopal Church a secondary role in the Communion, has disappointed just about everyone.

"It's well meaning but, I think, a futile attempt to paper over two irreconcilable truth claims," said Bishop Martyn Minns, former rector of Truro Church in Fairfax City, who heads a group of congregations that has broken from the Episcopal Church because its members think that the church does not follow the Bible closely enough.

Those on the other side aren't happy either. the rest