US Church ends moratorium on gay bishops
Bishops of the Anglican Church in the United States have voted to overturn a three-year ban on the appointment of gay bishops. The decision was made at the church's General Convention in California.
The step could lead to the Episcopal Church's eventual exit from the worldwide Anglican Communion which has been struggling to remain united since the Episcopal Church consecrated the openly gay bishop Gene Robinson in 2003.
To avoid expulsion from the Communion, the Episcopal Church agreed a temporary ban on the ordination of gay bishops. But, impatient for change, its General Convention voted on Tuesday to end the moratorium.
The two Church of ireland Archbishops both expressed disapproval of the decision to the News Letter last week.
The Archbishop of Armagh, The Most Rev Alan Harper said: "It is a matter of regret that the General Convention of the Episcopal Church appears to be moving to set aside the moratorium called for in the Windsor report of the Anglican Communion and by successive meetings of the Primates of the Anglican Communion. I feel it creates a situation of great concern and will increase tension within the Anglican Communion".
The Archbishop of Dublin, the Most Rev John Neill added: "As an Archbishop of a Church which upholds the moratoria proposed by the Windsor Continuation Group and by the Archbishop of Canterbury, it saddens me that The Episcopal Church appears to have opened the way to further controversial ordinations to the episcopate which threaten the unity of the Anglican Communion."
The resolution was passed by wide margins by both of the church's main decision-making bodies, the House of Bishops and the House of Deputies.