KIM LAWTON: Even as the report was released, the commission's chair, Archbishop Robin Eames, acknowledged its limitations.
Archbishop ROBIN EAMES (Chair, Lambeth Commission): I cannot emphasize too strongly to you, the report which has come before you does not offer any easy judgment. And it does not offer -- and this does not surprise you -- any easy solution either.
LAWTON: Still, the archbishop held out hope that it will help the worldwide Anglican Communion avoid schism.
Archbishop EAMES: One of the profound convictions of members of the Lambeth Commission was that our future lies together.
LAWTON: But the enormous difficulty of accomplishing that is clearer than ever.
The panel said the U.S. Episcopal Church "breached the bonds of Communion" by consecrating an openly gay bishop, Gene Robinson of New Hampshire, and by permitting the blessing of same-sex unions. The report called on the U.S. Church to express its regret and impose a moratorium on both practices until "some new consensus in the Anglican Communion" emerges on issues of sexuality. But there were no recommendations for punishment.Conservatives were disappointed.
Bishop ROBERT DUNCAN (Diocese of Pittsburgh): Where the report fails is, it's really more concerned about unity than it is about truth, even unity at almost any price. It's more concerned about family than it is about faith. People will see that in this report and it will be of great concern.
LAWTON: Frank Griswold, Presiding Bishop of the U.S. Church, said American bishops did acknowledge at their meeting in Spokane last month the depth of anger and pain surrounding their actions. Any further, collective statement of regret, as well as any official moratoriums, won't be considered until a special meeting of the bishops called for January. In the meantime, Griswold said the report offers much to think about.
Reverend FRANK GRISWOLD (Presiding Bishop, Episcopal Church USA): It also invites us as the Church in the United States to look more carefully at the consequences of some of the things we have done in other parts of the world.LAWTON: Some individual bishops have begun expressing their personal regrets. Among them, Bishop John Chane of Washington, DC.
Bishop JOHN BRYSON CHANE (Diocese of Washington) (At Press Conference): I want you to know this morning I accept this invitation and express my sadness that actions we undertook in good conscience -- actions which gave hope to one alienated and marginalized population -- have themselves engendered alienation and made others feel marginalized.(To Kim Lawton) I don't think we really understood the extent of the pain, and I mean pain that people have experience by being exposed to this decision. I really regret that.
LAWTON (To Bishop Chane): Were those decisions wrong?
Bishop CHANE: Well, I'll tell you -- from my perspective, no -- they weren't wrong from my perspective.
Bishop DUNCAN: It's quite clear that an apology for having caused pain is not nearly sufficient. The apology that needs to come is for having broken the faith, broken the boundaries, and for going down a road that the Church is not free to go down.LAWTON: Bishop Chane says for now, he will stop blessing same-sex unions, although he will not forbid priests in his diocese from blessing them. But he is adamant that out of concern for gays and lesbians, any moratoriums must have a definite time limit.
Bishop CHANE: The perception is, from some of the folks I've heard from, is, well, it's a great Anglican compromise. You can stretch this out for the next 10 years. What about us? I don't think it's fair to those people I represent.
LAWTON: Conservatives are also frustrated by what they perceive as a continued holding pattern. They have been organizing a network of parishes and dioceses. Some were hoping that if the U.S. Church doesn't change its stands, there could be an alternate American church, affiliated with the Anglican Communion but not with the U.S. Episcopal Church. However, this week's report rejected the idea of any parallel jurisdictions or of like-minded bishops coming in from outside the diocese to minister to disaffected church members without the permission of the local bishop.
Canon MARTYN MINNS (American Anglican Council): The public stance and teaching of the Episcopal Church forces, for us, a conscience compromise. And that's a serious thing for us. It's also produced a real brokenness in our relationships around the Communion because most of the Anglican Communion continue to hold on to classical Christianity, continue to hold on to traditional views and believe, in fact, that these are life-giving. And for us to kind of have to be separated from that is very, very painful.
Archbishop PETER AKINOLA (Diocese of Nigeria): If what they are doing negates what we share, what we hold on to, what we cherish, then we have to part ways.
Bishop GENE ROBINSON (Diocese of New Hampshire): We've got this wonderful 400-year-old tradition of being able to hold together despite disagreeing on almost everything. There's no reason why this one issue should be raised above all those things we hold in common.
LAWTON: I think there are a lot of reasons. Some of them are theological. Anglicans very much hold to the traditional Christian teaching that the Church is the Body of Christ. It's made up of many diverse members, but those members all come together in something that they consider very sacred. And you don't break that up easily -- or quickly. I think also there is a lot of history and tradition that comes into play. Anglicans are -- they have a very unique identity. There are not Roman Catholic, but they are also not exactly Protestant. And so they very much appreciate -- across the board -- this identity and the historic relationships with the Archbishop of Canterbury. He's not like the pope, but he does have the spiritual authority over their body. And they also want these historic relationships with the other churches in the Communion around the world.
