African Anglicans debate U.S. funding

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NAIROBI, Kenya -- The shock waves of last year's ordination of an openly homosexual bishop in the United States reverberated in Kenya yesterday, as Anglican leaders from across Africa began meeting to discuss whether to keep accepting crucial funding from the U.S. Episcopalian Church.

Homosexuality is generally taboo, if not illegal, in Africa, home to 42 million of the world's 70 million Anglicans, so "it's a delicate balancing act between remaining true to the teachings and having enough money to run the church," said an official who did not want to be named.

The closed-door meeting of the Council of Anglican Provinces of Africa (CAPA) is set to last two days in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi.

About 70 percent of CAPA's funding comes from rich churches in the West, particularly in the United States, home to most proponents of homosexual bishops.

CAPA spokesman Justus Waimiri said the bishops also were scheduled to discuss a wide range of issues facing the Anglican Church in Africa, still reeling from the fallout of last year's decision by the U.S. Episcopal Church to name V. Gene Robinson, an open homosexual, as bishop of New Hampshire.

Another church official said, "On top of the agenda is discussion whether to accept money from those churches that support [homosexuality], as well as discuss new sources of funding."

African Anglicans, led by Archbishop Peter Akinola of Nigeria, who is attending the Nairobi meeting, fiercely protested the decision to consecrate Bishop Robinson, with some threatening a permanent schism.

The official said it would not be "morally right and spiritually proper" for the African churches to accept money from people and groups who have failed to respect the word of God.

"If we rejected them, then it's fair before God to say 'no' to their money. But then we must be ready to get our own funds," the official added.

An Anglican Church of Kenya official, who was keenly following the meeting, said, "It's hard for bishops present to take a soft stance, but it would also take time to reach the position of refusing funds."

Apart from the church, most African societies regard homosexuality as a taboo. Homosexuality, however, is not uncommon on the poorest continent, mostly in urban areas.

Last year, former South African Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu sparked a furious reaction from Kenyan clergy when he said during a visit to Kenya that sexual orientation should not prevent a person from becoming a priest.

Bishops from the church's Global South -- Latin America, Asia and Middle East -- were scheduled to join the CAPA meeting today.

African church leaders, like many in the developing world, warned last year that unless the U.S. bishops rescinded their decision to recognize Bishop Robinson's ministry, they would remove themselves from the Anglican Communion fellowship.

Conservative members of the worldwide communion also warned that the consecration of Bishop Robinson, 56, who had lived with his male partner for 13 years, would plunge the faith into the worst turmoil in its 450-year history.