Broken bridges to the wider Anglican Communion will not be repaired by recent actions of the General Convention of the Episcopal Church in the United States, the Archbishop of Canterbury has stated in a reflec\u00c2\u00adtion that advocates a \u201ctwo-track\u201d\u009d Communion based on accep\u00c2\u00adt-ance of the Covenant proposals.<\/p>\n
The issue was not human rights or dignity, but whether the Church was free to recognise same-sex unions by means of public blessings seen as analogous to Christian marriage, he said in Communion, Covenant and our Anglican Future, published on Monday.<\/p>\n
A \u201cyes\u201d\u009d would have had to be pre\u00c2\u00adceded by \u201cthe most painstaking biblical exegesis\u201d\u009d, strong consensus, solid theological grounding, and due account taken of the teaching of ecu\u00c2\u00admenical partners. This was not the situation, Dr Williams said. The Church did not sanction the chosen lifestyle of anyone living in a sexual relationship outside marriage, and \u201ca certain choice of lifestyle has certain consequences.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo long as the Church Catholic, or even the Communion as a whole, does not bless same-sex unions, a person living in such a union cannot without serious incongruity have a representative function in a Church whose public teaching is at odds with their lifestyle.\u201d\u009d<\/p>\n