Will the Anglican Church split over homosexuality?

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, is to meet with all 38 national Primates of the Anglican Church this week in a « last throw of the dice » to avoid a permanent split in the Church of England.

What is the disagreement?

The church faces a de facto split in the worldwide Anglican Communion over the issue of homosexuality and same-sex marriage, says The Guardian.

Church leaders from six African countries are expected to walk out of the talks if, in the words of Ugandan Archbishop Stanley Ntagali, « discipline and godly order is not restored ».

Archbishops from Uganda, Kenya, Nigeria, South Sudan, Rwanda and Congo are incensed by the move to consecrate gay bishops and are insisting on sanctions against the US Episcopal Church after it consecrated gay priest Gene Robinson as bishop of New Hampshire in 2003.

Welby has called the meeting, the first in over a decade, in a last-ditch effort to move the global church – which claims 85 million followers worldwide – beyond the issue of homosexuality, in the hope of focusing on matters such as climate change and religious violence.

What is the likelihood of a split?

Church sources have said there is a « 90 per cent chance the six will walk out », which would effectively lead to a permanent divide between conservative and liberal wings.

Welby is proposing that, in the face of intractable differences, the communion should restructure as a loose confederation of churches rather than adherents to a common doctrine.

The BBC‘s religious affairs correspondent Caroline Wyatt said the rift over sexuality was even greater than that over women bishops, with those who oppose homosexuality on biblical grounds openly calling for the liberal wing of the church to repent for consecrating gay bishops and clergy.

Many liberal Anglicans are « horrified » by the « deeply homophobic and retrograde » stance of the conservative churches in sub-Saharan Africa and believe that a split is « inevitable and preferable to continued infighting and paralysis », says the Guardian.

Liberal members last week threatened a walk-out of their own, after Welby invited the leader of the conservative breakaway Anglican Church in North America to participate in the meeting.

Where does the UK’s Anglican community stand?

In a separate letter to the Archbishops of Canterbury and York on the eve of the conference, more than 100 senior British Anglicans urged the Church of England to repent for « discriminating » against lesbian and gay Christians.

In it, they say the Church must acknowledge LGBT members around the world have been « vilified » and treated as « second-class citizens » and argue that the church must embrace 21st-century values if it wishes to appeal to more people.

However, some have argued that the scriptures are unambiguous on the question of sexuality and questioned those who seek to offer an alternative interpretation of the holy texts.