Stockholm, Sweden - In Sweden yesterday, New Hampshire Bishop V-Gene Robinson said the Anglican Communion is being challenged by those who oppose the ordainment of gays and lesbians.
Robinson, the first openly gay leader in the Episcopal Church, was referring to a letter signed last week by conservative leaders within the Anglican Communion. The letter urges the archbishop of Canterbury to crack down on U-S and Canadian churches that affirm gay relationships.
Archbishop Rowan Williams is known to be sympathetic to gay clergy, and he has acknowledged ordaining a gay man during his time as archbishop of Wales. But as leader of the Anglican Communion, Williams says he is obliged to affirm the communion's official position that homosexual acts are contrary to Biblical teaching.
The Episcopal Church is the U-S province of the 77-million-member Anglican Communion.