Archbishop of Canterbury imposes first sanctions on Anglican provinces over gay bishops dispute

The Archbishop of Canterbury has imposed the first sanctions on Anglican provinces judged to have inflamed tensions over homosexuality in the church.
By Martin Beckford, Religious Affairs Correspondent
28 May 2010

Dr Rowan Williams announced that areas which had ignored “pleading” for restraint would be banned from attending inter-faith dialogue events and prevented from voting on a key body on doctrine.

He admitted the 80 million-strong Anglican Communion was in a time of “substantial transition” but held back from taking the most serious step of expelling national churches from it.

His action, taken after years of patiently asking both conservatives and liberals to abide by agreed rules, will affect both sides in the dispute over whether the Bible permits openly homosexual clergy.

It has been triggered by the progressive Episcopal Church of the USA, which ordained its first lesbian bishop, the Rt Rev Mary Glasspool, earlier this month. The Episcopal Church also elected the first openly homosexual bishop in the Communion, the Rt Rev Gene Robinson, in 2003. the rest

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