US: US Episcopalian bishops, under fire for consecrating the church's first openly-gay bishop, have decided not to appoint any new bishops or bless same-sex unions for at least the next year.
The church's House of Bishops which met in Texas said in a statement on its website yesterday that it had voted almost unanimously to halt such activities at least until the church's next general convention in 2006.
It said this would help heal wounds caused by the worldwide rift over the issue.
The status of homosexuals is a question causing debate and pain in a number of Christian churches. For Anglicans it reached a new level in 2003 with the consecration of Gene Robinson of New Hampshire, the church's first bishop known to be in a same-sex relationship.
The statement (on http://www.episcopalchurch.org) said the bishops regretted the pain their actions had caused other church members, and acknowledged that the moratorium would cause hardships in some dioceses.
The statement is part of a continuing response to the Windsor Report, a document issued at the request of the Anglican Church leadership last October.
That report urged the liberal-dominated North American bishops not only to express their regret for the Robinson appointment but to impose a moratorium on liturgies blessing same-sex marriages and the consecrating of gay bishops.
The Episcopal Church's next general convention is in June next year in Columbus, Ohio.
The statement said the moratorium was being imposed to make the "fullest possible response to the larger communion, and to reclaim and strengthen our common bonds of affection".
"Those of us having jurisdiction pledge to withhold consent to the consecration of any person elected to the episcopate . . . until the general convention of 2006," the statement said. - (Reuters)