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Nigeria clerics condemn gay bishop


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LAGOS, Nigeria (Reuters) -- Nigerian Anglican Church officials reacted with dismay on Monday to the consecration of an openly gay bishop in the United States, but stopped short of saying their church would break away over the issue.

The Rev. Canon V. Gene Robinson was consecrated on Sunday as a bishop of the U.S. Episcopal Church, an action condemned as "heresy" by conservative opponents.

"The Church in Nigeria does not like this at all," said an Anglican Church official in Lagos. An official statement is due to be released later on Monday.

Another Anglican source said the Church of Nigeria would protest against the consecration but was unlikely to announce a separation from the U.S. branch of the global Anglican church.

"There is nothing to be gained from a separation," he said.

The Anglican Church in Nigeria says it has a membership of 15 million, making it the world's second-largest Anglican community after Britain, which has 26 million nominal members.

Regular churchgoers in Africa easily outnumber those in Britain.

Nigeria's Vanguard newspaper quoted the Archbishop of Kaduna, Nigeria's representative on an Anglican Church committee trying to resolve the crisis, as saying "those who are not prepared to accept the way of the Anglican Church will have to leave it."

"We are hoping that the commission that has been set up will find a way of resolving it," said Archbishop Josiah Idowu-Fearon in the newspaper.

In an earlier statement Archbishop Peter Akinola, the Primate of Nigeria, hinted at a break-up of the Anglican Church.

"A clear choice has been made for a Church that exists primarily in allegiance to the unbiblical departures and waywardness of our generation," he said. "Such a Church is bound to become a shrine for the worship of men rather than God. We cannot go on limping between two opinions."



Copyright 2003 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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