The head of the Anglican Communion sought to strengthen the church’s stance against same-sex marriage this week, but the move was stifled by an outcry from various bishops. The dispute came to the fore during the ongoing 2022 Lambeth Conference – a rare meeting of Anglican Communion bishops from around the world. The Global Southern Fellowship of Anglican Churches (GSFA) – which bills itself as “a worldwide community of orthodox Anglican provinces and dioceses within the Anglican Communion” – came to the conference with a ban on same-sex marriage firmly on their agenda. “We often feel that our voices are not heard or respected,” South Sudan’s Primate, Rev. Justin Bundy, told The Church Times. “Today, in Canterbury, we may be ‘gathered’, but we certainly cannot ‘walk together’ until the provinces that have gone against Scripture – and the will of the bishops’ consensus – repent and return to orthodoxy.” QUEEN ELIZABETH RECOGNIZES PRINCE HARRY, PRINCES CHARLES, WILLIAM IN HONOR OF PRINCE PHILIP’S CLIMATE WORK Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby (centre right) with bishops from around the world gather at the University of Kent in Canterbury for a group photo during the 15th Lambeth Conference. Photo date: Friday, July 29, 2022. (Photo by Gareth Fuller/PA Images via Getty Images)
He continued, “Society is not in a healthy state right now, and only serious surgery will fix that.” They were privately, if not publicly, reinforced by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby. The archbishop, by the nature of his office, is the most senior clergyman in the Anglican Communion, but has limited powers of governance on his own. POPE FRANCIS WARNS GERMAN BISHOPS: DOCTRINE CHANGE IS NOT LEGAL, MAKES CHURCHES ‘ROT AND DIE’ Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby (centre right) with bishops from around the world gather at the University of Kent in Canterbury for a group photo during the 15th Lambeth Conference. Photo date: Friday, July 29, 2022. (Photo by Gareth Fuller/PA Images via Getty Images)
Welby met privately with the GSFA on July 29 and offered to write a letter supporting the traditional view of marriage, according to Church of England journalist George Conger. A conference call—a kind of vote among the bishops to approve or abandon proposed statements of belief—was planned. The next day – after the push to officially reject same-sex marriage was released – the conference was threatened with chaos. According to reports, many bishops remained seated and did not receive the Holy Eucharist during the service. Protests arose against recording votes on church appeals, and eventually, the conference stopped tracking the decisions of individual bishops. CANTERBURY, ENGLAND – APRIL 17: Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury before delivering his Easter homily at Canterbury Cathedral on April 17, 2022 in Canterbury, England. A congregation of worshipers returned to Canterbury Cathedral to take part in Easter service for the first time in two years, previously kept away by the coronavirus pandemic. This year, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, used his homily to criticize the government’s plans to process UK asylum seekers in Rwanda, calling the policy “godless”. He also spoke about the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the cost of living crisis at home. (Photo by Hollie Adams/Getty Images)
The appeal to strengthen Lambeth 1.10 was ultimately rejected. However, there was no demonstration against the archbishop or the conference and the proceedings continued. Despite the heat, Welby delivered on his promised letter, released to the faithful on Tuesday. “I wanted to write you this letter now so that I can clarify two issues for all of us. Given the deep divisions that exist within Society over same-sex marriage and human sexuality, I thought it important to state what the case is,” Welby wrote in his letter. ENGINE ROTATION. FRANKLIN GRAHAM AND THE BILLY GRAHAM EVANGELIST ASSOCIATION PRESENTS CHRISTIANS’ STRUGGLES IN THE UKRAINE AT WAR The Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby leads the opening service of the 15th Lambeth Conference at Canterbury Cathedral in Kent. Photo date: Sunday, July 31, 2022. (Photo by Gareth Fuller/PA Images via Getty Images)
He continued, “I am therefore writing to confirm that the validity of the resolution adopted at the Lambeth Conference 1998, 1:10 is not in question and that the entire resolution still stands. Indeed, the Call on Human Dignity has made it clear that this is the case, as the resolution it is quoted three times in paragraph 2.3 of the Appeal for Human Dignity.” The archbishop went on to point out that the 1998 statues cited made no mention of obedience-based sanctions or exclusions. Welby said the “pain, stress and controversy” caused by Lambeth 1.10 was “very clear”. He concluded, “Reconciling each other across such differences is not something we can achieve alone. So as we continue to reflect on 1 Peter, I pray that we turn our gaze to Christ who has only the power to reconcile us to God and to each other.” CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Bishops from around the world gather at the University of Kent in Canterbury for a group photo during the 15th Lambeth Conference. Photo date: Friday, July 29, 2022. (Photo by Gareth Fuller/PA Images via Getty Images)
Anglicanism has been fractured for decades over gay relationships, women’s ordination and other issues. Those rifts opened wide in 2003 when the New York-based Episcopal Church consecrated the first openly gay bishop, Gene Robinson, in New Hampshire. Last year, the US’s highest diocesan legislature, or General Assembly, voted to approve same-sex marriages in their churches. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP In 2009, Anglican national leaders in Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda and other ecclesiastical provinces helped create the Anglican Church in North America, as a theologically conservative alternative to the Episcopal Church in the USA. Anglicans, whose roots lie in the missionary work of the Church of England, are the third largest group of Christians in the world, behind the Roman Catholics and the Orthodox. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Timothy Nerozzi is a writer for Fox News Digital. You can follow him on Twitter @timothynerozzi and email him at [email protected]