African Anglican bishops step away from gay row

QUATRE BORNES, Mauritius - African Anglican archbishops ducked homosexuality, the issue dividing the worldwide Communion, on Thursday and instead drew attention to the poorest continent's problems.

|PIC1|Last month Nigerian Archbishop Peter Akinola, one of the Church's fiercest critics of gay rights, blasted bishops from the U.S. Episcopal Church for "ignoring" pleas to take a clear stand against consecrating gay clergy or blessing gay unions.

Chairing a meeting of African archbishops in Mauritius, Akinola was at pains to avoid the topic.

"I'm trying to avoid dragging us into unnecessary controversy when there are more profitable things to talk about," he told reporters on the sidelines of the meeting.

"This is Africa, and we would rather focus on those important things that affect us Africans."

The Council of Anglican Provinces of Africa said in a statement it was distressed by drought and floods, Zimbabwe's political oppression, the Darfur conflict, and HIV/AIDS.

The U.S. church has been divided within and estranged from parts of the 77-million-member global church since 2003, when it consecrated Gene Robinson of New Hampshire as the first openly gay bishop in more than four centuries of Anglicanism.

An international panel of Anglican clerics and laity issued a report on Wednesday saying the U.S. Episcopal Church had made some concessions at its New Orleans meeting last month to calm the dispute over their consecration of Robinson.

The Joint Standing Committee said the Episcopal Church had met demands from the Anglican Communion to pledge not to consecrate another gay bishop and not to approve blessings in church for same-sex couples.

But it added the Episcopal Church had to do more to accommodate conservatives who are increasingly breaking away and pledging loyalty to bishops outside of the United States.

"The Communion should move towards closure on these matters, at least for the time being," the report said.