The bishops of the Episcopal Church pledged not to officially bless same-sex unions and reaffirmed their commitment to "exercise restraint" in ordaining gay bishops, while strongly asserting their unequivocal and active commitment to the civil rights, safety and dignity of gays and lesbians, in a statement issued last week at the close of six days of intensive discussions in New Orleans.
The carefully worded statement appeared to tread a fine line between placating the more conservative primates of the Anglican Communion, who had demanded that the bishops clarify their position on homosexuality by 30 September, and not alienating the more liberal membership of the Episcopal Church, the Communion's American wing.
The bishops pledged not to consecrate any bishop "whose manner of life presents a challenge to the wider Church and will lead to further strains on Communion", and agreed "not to authorise or use in our dioceses any public rites of blessing of same-sex unions until a broader consensus emerges in the Communion or until [the] General Convention takes further action". Both pledges were in line with demands that the Anglican leadership had placed on the bishops at a meeting in February, hoping to forestall a further splintering of the Communion, which has been deeply divided since the Episcopal Church consecrated an openly gay bishop, Gene Robinson, in 2003.
Last Tuesday's statement also said that clergy should "respond with love and understanding to people of all sexual orientations ... [and] maintain a breadth of private responses to situations of individual pastoral care".
"We all hope that our sacrificial actions and our united actions once again demonstrate to the wider Communion that we treasure our membership and we treasure the other members of the Anglican community," said Katharine Jefferts Schori, head of the Episcopal bishops, at a press conference. The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, attended the first two days of the meetings to help prod the bishops towards agreement.
Their statement on homosexuality comes at a crucial time for the Episcopal Church, which has faced serious dissent over the issue. Dozens of parishes have separated from the Church, many placing themselves under the authority of conservative African Churches, while several African leaders have begun ordaining conservative Americans as missionary bishops - a practice the New Orleans statement firmly said should stop. Three Episcopal bishops have recently defected to Catholicism, including Bishop Jeffrey Steenson of Rio Grande, New Mexico, who announced his intention at the meeting last week. And as many as five dioceses headed by conservative bishops threatened to leave the Church, depending on the decision in New Orleans.
Meanwhile, the Anglican Archbishop of Mexico, Carlos Touche-Porter, sought to promote a middle way that "celebrates diversity" for the Anglican Communion at a press conference in London this week, writes Victoria Combe. Archbishop Touche-Porter said that the Latin American Episcopalian bishops - who have formed an alliance called the Global Centre - had managed to remain unified despite different views on human sexuality.
"The solution is not a compromise but for the Church to remember that its primary mission is to witness the Gospel rather than discuss sexual morals," he said at the conference hosted by the British-based network Inclusive Church in St Matthew's, Westminster. He said he remained hopeful that the Episcopal Church would remain part of the Anglican Communion because to lose it would be to lose a "prophetic voice" in the Church. "We do not need to agree on every issue," he said.