New York, USA - Former President Jimmy Carter says animosity among Christians is a "cancer in the body of Christ."
Carter led off a gathering of thousands of moderate and liberal Baptists in Atlanta yesterday with a call to keep the event free of criticism of others.
The Baptists are meeting at the Georgia World Congress Center for three days, trying to overcome racial and theological divisions and challenge conservative Southern Baptist dominance.
The meeting, "Celebration of a New Baptist Covenant," included four major black denominations, Baptists from throughout North America and former members of the Southern Baptist Convention upset by its ties to the religious right.
More than 10,000 participants are expected over the three days.
In his opening address, Carter, a longtime Bible teacher at his Plains church, called the gathering "the most momentous event" of his religious life.
He said the prevailing image of Christians has come to be that of divisions "among brothers and sisters of Christ." He insisted the meeting is strictly religious, not political.
Former Vice President Al Gore and former President Bill Clinton are among the major speakers. Earlier yesterday, at a separate meeting of the black Baptist groups, Senators Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton spoke about their presidential candidacies.