The leader of Anglicans in the United States said Sunday he thought a ban on the blessing of same-sex marriages was unlikely as the Anglican Church struggles to resolve a potential schism over homosexuality.
Frank Griswold said bishops would meet in January to consider the conclusions of a report last week into a crisis between liberals and conservatives sparked by the ordination in the United States last year of openly gay bishop Gene Robinson.
The so-called Windsor report urged liberal north Americans to ban same-sex marriages and the consecration of gay bishops.
"Probably in an appropriate way pastoral care will be extended to gay and lesbian people," Griswold told BBC television in reference to the blessing of gay relationships.
"I'm not exactly sure what will happen in terms of some formal moratorium. I rather doubt that will occur," added Griswold, who leads the 2.3 million U.S. Episcopal Church, as the Anglican Church is known in the United States.
Asked about the confirmation of gay bishops, Griswold said he believed "the confirmation process will be guided now by the greater sensitivities that we would all have to how people feel in other parts of the communion."
Griswold, who consecrated Robinson, said he regretted the pain that had caused to parts of Anglicanism but he said he believed it was right and would "probably" do the same again.
Robinson's ordination sharply divided the Anglican Church's 70 million faithful and sparked fears of a split after 450 years of unity by consensus.
He said he saw the report as an opportunity for reconciliation and said he did not expect liberal and conservative wings to split apart.
"I think the overwhelming reality of Anglicanism is what I would call the diverse center, which is rather silent. You only hear from the edges. I think the diverse center which is the overwhelming reality will carry the Church forward though there may be some attrition at either end," Griswold said.