Irish Times: Anglicanism divided

Wednesday, August 6, 2008


THAT THE Lambeth Conference concluded without a formal split in the Anglican Communion over human sexuality issues is at once a tribute to the leadership skills of Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams and to the very nature of Anglicanism itself.

The communion's strength has always been its capacity to fudge difference in the interest of cohesion; to place human relationship before rigidity.

This does not mean Anglicanism is out of the woods on human sexuality issues. The risk of schism remains.

But what it succeeded in doing at Lambeth was to secure more - and very necessary - time. It also allowed those present to gain a deeper understanding of where others are coming from on same-sex issues.

The scale of the differences between liberal and conservative elements within the communion is demonstrated by the fact that approximately a quarter of the communion's bishops were absent from the conference - in protest at the handling of these same-sex issues by Dr Williams and others.

This had the positive effect of removing the most shrill voices and meant that those in attendance had the space to try to understand the perspectives of others.

Likewise, the adoption of the indaba way of doing business - said to be based on a Zulu practice of sitting around to discuss contentious matters until a common understanding might be arrived at - placed the issue of gay bishops and same-sex blessings in a non-adversarial context.

At Lambeth 1998, when resolution 1.10 - which rejected homosexual practice as incompatible with scripture and refused to legitimise the blessing of samesex unions or the ordination of those involved in such unions - was passed by majority, it did not resolve the issue and followed debate during which bishops booed and hissed at one another. None of that happened this time, though forthright views were expressed.

More generally, this controversy within Anglicanism and the recent reminder of the Catholic Church's ban on artificial means of contraception, with the 40th anniversary of the papal encyclical Humanae Vitae, have highlighted again the growing divergence between the churches and civil society on sexuality issues.

Particularly where the young are concerned, this serves to further marginalise religion in their lives. At least within Anglicanism there are those who are attempting to marry a deepening human insight with an inherited faith. Others, sadly, seem content to rely solely on increasingly unsatisfactory and shaky prohibition.