Anglicans Face Difficult Summit By BBC - Caribbean February 14, 2007 ........................................................................................................................................ Leaders of the Anglican Church have gathered in Tanzania for a summit which is likely to be dominated by the divisive issue of homosexuality. The conservative majority, including the church in the West Indies, is opposed to those who believe the church should accept gay clergy members. The controversy threatens to create a schism in the 38 national churches which make up the Anglican Communion. "The importance of all of these issues cannot be overstated," Archbishop of the West Indies Drexel Gomez said before leaving his Bahamas base. "This meeting is one of the most important meetings that I would be attending during my ministry because to a very large extent the future of the Anglican Communion is dependent upon what we are able to accomplish." "So our effort is to see what we can do if it is at all possible to keep the communion together." The head of the Anglican Church and Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams has said that he fears that the Church may split over the row sparked by the appointment of openly gay US bishop, Gene Robinson, in 2003. Episcopal Church "We have a difficult meeting ahead of us with many challenges and many decisions to make," Dr Williams told reporters as he arrived in Dar es Salaam. Conservative primates are angered that the recently-installed head of the American Episcopal Church, Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, who has publicly backed Mr Robinson, is attending the meeting. Supporters of the conservatives which include representatives from Africa, Asia and Latin America and the Caribbean - known as the Global South - have gathered in one hotel while liberal Anglican representatives have congregated in another, reports say. In December, two of the oldest and largest parishes in the US broke from their bishop and become a mission of the Nigerian Church over the issue. latest news Jamaica Police Investigages Scam British Prime Minister Sorry for Slavery CARICOM Issues Explored Angllicans Face Difficult Summit Trinidadian Carnival Exodus New Caribbean Program Premiers on NY TV Exemption for Antigua Nurses More Complaints About CARICOM Grenada Goofs: Anthem Mixup Windies Selectors to Mull Over CWC Squad More Cricket World Cup Semis Tickets on Sale JA Airport Revamp Won't Be Ready for Cup Celebrating Bob Marley with Food & Fashion CARICOM Single Space Travel Begins Caribbean Tops Prisoner's List AIDS Discrimination in the Caribbean Whaling Showdown Likely Record Year for Global Tourism Five Killed by Jamaican Police Four Dead in Haiti UN Operation   | | | | |