The Church of Uganda has joined several others to oppose the consecration of a gay bishop in London.
The Irish Times newspaper reported Friday that Uganda alongside Nigeria, and others threatened to cut their relationship with the Church of England, their mother church, if it went ahead to consecrate Canon Jeffrey John the bishop of Reading, west of London. Can. John is a self-professed homosexual.
The article quoted the archbishop of Nigeria Peter Akinola, saying that the move would deepen the crisis over homosexuality if the Church of England proceeds with the consecration of its first gay bishop.
Archbishop Peter Akinola, leader of the 17.5 million-strong church in Nigeria, who has declared homosexuality to be an abomination, warned that he would precipitate a schism in the church, and that he had received support from the Church of Uganda leadership to oppose the move.
He said that the other provinces were the West Indies, the Southern Cone (South America), Central Africa, Kenya, India, Papua New Guinea, and the Philippines.
The Archbishop of the Church of Uganda, Dr Livingstone Nkoyoyo told The Monitor yesterday that they are totally against the move.
"We have always made our stand clear. We definitely don't agree with it," he said.
On what the Church of Uganda plans to do if the Church of England goes ahead to consecrate Can. John, Nkoyoyo said the House of Bishops will meet next week and issue a statement.
Said he: "We totally don't agree and we have tried our best to oppose it. But it's still too early; let's wait and see. We shall decide on the next move when the right time comes."
The Church Missionary Society has warned that its work could be threatened by the move.
The prospect of a schism within months of taking office is a huge challenge for Dr Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, who is also head of the worldwide communion of Anglicans.
Known to be personally sympathetic to gays, Dr Williams is pledged to uphold church rules and has so far kept his head down, apart from issuing a statement three weeks ago regretting the division caused by a decision by the Canadian diocese of New Westminster to authorise a same-sex marriage blessing service.
Archbishop Akinola's outburst represents an extraordinary interference in the affairs of a national church by a primate of another country and came despite an assurance from Can. John that, although he remains in a 27-year partnership, he is now celibate.
Archbishop Akinola told BBC radio: "We claim we are Bible-loving Christians. We cannot be seen to be doing things clearly outside the boundaries allowable in the Bible.
This is only the beginning. We would sever relationships with anybody, anywhere... anyone who strays over the boundaries we are out with them. It is as simple as that."
Nigeria and 12 other provinces from developing countries have already declared themselves to be in "impaired communion" with the Canadian diocese and they may take similar action against New Hampshire, in the US, which elected the first bishop in an openly gay relationship.
Can. John said of his relationship: "We have been together for 27 years and we will remain together. But the relationship has not been sexually expressed for years."