Anglicans clash over gay rights at synod

Anglicans yesterday debated homosexuality, the most divisive issue to rock the Church since the ordination of women priests.

Liberal and conservative factions are split deeply over the consecration last year of the openly gay Gene Robinson as the US Bishop of New Hampshire.

The Church of England's General Synod grasped the nettle yesterday with a debate which highlighted the real danger of a schism in the 450-year-old Anglican Church, with 70 million faithful around the world.

"Fault-lines have already opened up," conceded Bishop of Oxford Richard Harries as he launched into discussion of the issue bedevilling the church.

The Reverend Richard Kirker, general secretary of the Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement, has argued the Church of England must resolve the issue of homosexuality to retain its credibility.

"We have been urging the Church for nearly 30 years to get real and accept that God has created all of the human race - black and white, men and women, heterosexual and homosexual - equal," he said.

The Synod - the Church of England's parliament - put under the microscope "Some Issues in Human Sexuality", a theological handbook which basically spells out what needs tackling by the Church in an increasingly materialistic society.

Pleas were equally impassioned on both sides of the divide as speakers sprang eagerly to their feet.

The openly gay Reverend Paul Collier, who has been living with his partner for five years, said: "Please talk with us and not about us."

Rejecting celibacy as a solution for gays, he said: "For us, abstinence can only be sterile and hopeless."

On the other side of the fence, traditionalist David Banting said: "The assertiveness and urgency of this (pro-gay) lobby has led to widespread disturbances and indeed schism in the Anglican Church around the world."

Conservatives argue that the Bible specifically condemns homosexuality and Banting complained that with the pro-gay lobby, it was like playing Scrabble with opponents who agreed the dictionary was important but never used it.

Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, who watched the debate with keen interest as the two sides traded viewpoints, has adopted a cautious approach.

The spiritual head of the Anglicans, who has none of the Pope's rigid authority in the Roman Catholic Church, hopes moderation will win the day in this broadest of churches.

Archbishop Williams set up a commission late last year to tackle the issue but one afternoon listening to such a huge array of deeply felt views on either side of the spectrum showed how gargantuan is the task he faces.