Ex-Archbishop: Incalculable Damage Done

The AP is reporting on a letter sent to the Times of London by former Archbishop Carey:

London, Nov. 6--(AP) The consecration of an openly gay bishop in America's Episcopal Church has done "incalculable" damage to the global Anglican Communion, former Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey said in a letter published Thursday. However, he urged all factions in the communion to hold together and strengthen their "bonds of affection."

In a letter to The Times of London newspaper, Carey said he shared the distress of conservative evangelicals following Sunday's consecration of Gene Robinson as Episcopal bishop of New Hampshire. The Episcopal Church is the U.S. branch of Anglicanism.

Subsequently, Nigerian Archbishop Peter Akinola, speaking in the name of the "Global South" of the communion, said he would no longer participate in any meetings with Episcopal leaders.

"I can only share the principled distress of the primates of the Global South and others who have expressed themselves so strongly in recent days," Carey wrote. "They are surely right to do so. The damage done to ecumenical relations, interfaith dialogue and the mission of the worldwide church is incalculable."