Chicago, USA - U.S. Episcopal bishops, still fighting fallout from their consecration of the church's first openly gay bishop, on Wednesday withdrew from a key worldwide Anglican body.
The move was their latest effort to ease tensions within the 77-million-member church over the selection of Bishop Gene Robinson of New Hampshire in 2003.
The bishops had been under pressure to withdraw from the Anglican Consultative Council (ACC) earlier this year when Anglican leaders met in Northern Ireland.
The Rev. Frank Griswold, presiding bishop of the 2.3-million-member U.S. Episcopal Church, announced the withdrawal following a meeting of the Executive Council of the U.S. bishops.
"This is a weighty matter for the Episcopal Church since the ACC is the primary instrument of communion in which the fullness of the Body of Christ is represented," he said in a letter released by the church.
"Representative consultation is an essential component of our life as a church," the letter added, but the U.S. church will withdraw from official participation in the council when it next meets in Nottingham, England.
The U.S. bishops are under attack from Anglicans for consecrating Robinson, believed to be the first bishop known to be in a same-sex relationship in the history of the Anglican church.
Last month the U.S. bishops decided not to appoint any new bishops or publicly bless same-sex unions for at least the next year in an effort to provide time for healing and discussion on the issue.
Still unresolved is whether consecrating an openly gay bishop was a legitimate move in the first place.
The U.S. bishops have also expressed "deep regret for the pain that others have experienced" because of actions taken that led to Robinson's consecration.