Tears, jubilation, and muted protest marked the consecration of the An\u00c2\u00adglican Communion\u2019s first openly lesbian bishop in California last Sat\u00c2\u00adurday, although the event drew swift condemnation from tradition\u00c2\u00adalist groups and from the Archbishop of Canterbury.<\/p>\n
In a brief statement, Dr Williams described the ceremony as \u201cregret\u00c2\u00adtable\u201d\u009d, and said that it placed a ques\u00c2\u00adtion mark over the place in the Com\u00c2\u00admunion of the Episcopal Church in the United States. The crit\u00c2\u00adicism was echoed by Evangelical groups in Ireland, among other places.<\/p>\n
A press release published jointly by the Church of Ireland Evangelical Fel\u00c2\u00adlowship and three other bodies argued that the consecration represented \u201ca clear rejection of the many pleas for gracious restraint\u201d\u009d set out in the Windsor report and made by the latest Primates\u2019 Meeting.<\/p>\n