LONDON (Aug. 5) - The U.S. Episcopal Church's confirmation of the election of a gay bishop may test the limits of the Anglican Communion's proud reputation for diversity.

Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams had hoped to avoid an immediate showdown on the issue, urging both sides to refrain from any action which would threaten Anglican unity.

But the church's House of Bishops ended up approving the election of the Rev. V. Gene Robinson as bishop of New Hampshire on Tuesday after dismissing last-minute allegations involving ''touching'' and ''pornography'' against the clergyman.

The approval was anathema to leaders of the doctrinally conservative and thriving branches of the church in Africa.

Even before Tuesday's decision, Archbishop Peter Akinola, who heads the 17.5 million-member Anglican Church in Nigeria, condemned Robinson's election as ''a Satanic attack on God's church.'' He previously severed relations with the Anglican diocese of New Westminster in Canada because it sanctioned the blessing of gay relationships.

The Anglican Communion brings together the churches founded by the Church of England in the days of the British Empire.

Unlike the Catholic Church, where authority flows down from the Vatican, Anglicanism is a loose association of 38 national provinces which, in practical terms, do as they wish.

They have different prayer books, and they have differed on ordaining women as priests and allowing women priests to become bishops. Despite threats of splits, the communion held together.

In 1998, the Lambeth Conference - a once-a-decade gathering of the world's Anglican bishops - overwhelmingly voted to declare homosexuality to be ''incompatible with Scripture'' and said homosexuals should not be ordained as priests.

That is the line which Williams has tried to hold since he was enthroned in February, though he personally disagrees with it. He has urged Anglican bishops not to press ahead with controversial initiatives when there is no consensus in the communion.

There is nothing the archbishop can do, however, to make any of the provinces toe the line.

He was spared a showdown within the Church of England this year when Canon Jeffrey John, who has been honest about his homosexuality, decided to withdraw from nomination as bishop of Reading.

Paul Handley, editor of the English weekly newspaper Church Times, commented that it's difficult to know what a split in the Anglican Communion would mean.

''There is absolutely no authority structure above the provincial level, so they are together voluntarily anyway,'' said Handley.

In practical terms, the Third World conservatives who criticize the Episcopal Church would miss its financial support.

''If you are talking about winners and losers, it's the poorer provinces which must be the losers,'' Handley said.

Akinola recently acknowledged the financial dilemma.

''Our boldness in condemning the spiritual bankruptcy of these churches must be matched by our refusal to receive financial help from them,'' Akinola said in a June statement, reported by Religion News Service. ''This means that we must become self-reliant as a matter of urgency so that we will not only meet our own needs locally, but also those of our poor African brethren.''

Earlier, the Rev. David Phillips, general secretary of the Church Society in Britain, urged the Church of England to cut its ties to the Episcopal Church if Robinson's appointment is confirmed. The Church Society last year urged Williams to refuse appointment as archbishop, in part because of his liberal views on homosexuality.

''It is an important issue, it shows that the leaders in the American church are not Christian, they are following their own ideas about what they want,'' Phillips said.

On the other side, the Rev. Richard Kirker of the Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement said he would be ''delighted'' by Robinson's election.

''We look forward to the Church of England and other parts of the Anglican Church taking some encouragement - and being willing to take a lead - from the American church, whose decision is very prophetic and truly Christian,'' Kirker said. [Source: AP-NY-08-05-03 ]
Copyright 2003 The Associated Press.