LONDON: Archbishop to meet leaders seeking split from liberal Church

By Jonathan Petre, Religion Correspondent
THE TELEGRAPH
11/2/2006

Conservative Anglican leaders are to flesh out plans for a formal split in the worldwide Church at a confidential meeting with the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, later this month.

A group of conservative archbishops, including the Primate of Nigeria, Archbishop Peter Akinola, will meet Dr Williams at Lambeth Palace to discuss the creation of a parallel body for conservatives in America.

The development follows a summit of 20 "Global South" leaders in Africa last month, which opted for "a separate ecclesiastical structure" to accommodate opponents of the pro-gay leadership of the American Church.

Seven dioceses and scores of parishes in the Episcopal Church, the American branch of Anglicanism, have rejected their liberal leadership and have asked to be "adopted" by a sympathetic archbishop from abroad.

Under the Global South proposals, American conservatives would switch their allegiances from their Presiding Bishop-Elect, the Rt Rev Katharine Jefferts Schori, to a leader from the Global South.

Dr Williams is thought to sympathise with their proposals because he is losing patience with the liberal Americans, who brought Anglicanism to the brink of schism by consecrating its first actively gay bishop in 2003.

But he is also struggling to avert an unprecedented split that could trigger an acrimonious civil war within the Church of England, pitting bishop against bishop and parish against parish.

Dr Williams said recently that his "nightmare" was that the worldwide Church would quickly disintegrate into rival groups, each demanding a share of the Church's wealth in costly court actions.

He is struggling to work out a less drastic compromise before the next meeting of all the primates - the leaders of the 38 self-governing Churches or provinces that constitute the Anglican Communion - in February.

But if he fails, the conservatives, who represent about half of the primates, will insist that he initiate the split, a move that will provoke a furious backlash from liberals who will see it as an attempt to force them out of the Church.


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