Homosexual wedding intensifies Anglican dispute

Homosexual wedding intensifies Anglican dispute

London, Jun. 16, 2008 (CWNews.com) - The worldwide Anglican communion, already severely strained by disputes over homosexuality, has been tested again by revelations that two English clerics exchanged vows in a church ceremony in May.

The two Anglican priests, Peter Cowell and David Lord, defied their bishop by conducting the ceremony in St. Bartholomew's church in London. In an official comment on the event, the Church of England said that the ceremony involved "a fairly serious breach of the rules."

The ceremony has given new vigor to the outrage expressed by many conservative Anglican leaders, particularly in Africa, over the acceptance of homosexuality among their English and American counterparts. The complaints of these conservative Anglicans have threatened an open split within the Anglican hierarchy.

News of the London "wedding" ceremony came as Anglicans prepared for the Lambeth Conference, a decennial gathering of the world's Anglican bishops, in July. The conference had already been regarded as a likely showdown between the opposing factions within the Anglican community.

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