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02/16/08-02/18/08

Uganda to Boycott Anglican Meeting

Uganda's Anglican bishops will boycott a once-per-decade gathering of church leaders from around the world because of a fierce debate over homosexuality and scripture in the 77 million-member fellowship.

Splits between Anglican liberals and conservatives reached a crisis in 2003 when the U.S. Episcopal Church -- the American wing of the global Anglican Communion -- consecrated its first openly gay bishop, V. Gene Robinson. Problems mounted in 2006 with the election of Katharine Jefferts Schori, who supports ordaining gays, as the first female leader of the U.S. church.

''We are not going for the Lambeth Conference,'' Aron Mwesigye, a spokesman for the Ugandan church, said Thursday -- referring to the meetings scheduled July 16-August 3 in England for all the bishops in the Anglican world. ''The consecration of gay bishops in the USA is unacceptable.''

Supporters of ordaining gays believe the Bible's social justice teachings take precedence over its view of sexuality. However, most Anglicans outside the United States believe gay relationships are sinful, and they are distancing themselves from the U.S. church.

Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, the spiritual leader of the communion, has struggled to hold off one of the biggest meltdowns in Christianity in centuries, but he lacks any direct authority to force a compromise.

Whether Williams can persuade bishops to attend the Lambeth Conference will be a measure of the strength of the communion. (Godfrey Olukya, AP)

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