Episcopal diocese
of Pittsburgh rejects authority of incoming pro-gay
leader

Further battle lines over homosexuality were drawn in the Episcopal Church Wednesday as an ultraconservative Pennsylvania diocese opposing gay bishops rejected the authority of the incoming head of the denomination--a woman who supports gays--stopping just short of a full break with the church. The vote by the diocese of Pittsburgh took place the same day that the liberal diocese of Newark, N.J., tested the new Episcopal call for restraint in the appointment of gay bishops by nominating a gay priest to become its next leader. The Episcopal Church and its fellow Anglicans worldwide are struggling to prevent differences over biblical interpretation and issues of sexuality from escalating into a permanent split. On Tuesday, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, the Anglican spiritual leader, warned that divisions have become so deep that member churches who support ordaining gays may be demoted in ranking in the worldwide Anglican Communion. (Sirius OutQ News)