Fridae

Some 300 bishops believed to account for a third of the Anglican bishops in the world - arrived in Jerusalem this week to attend a conference to protest the ordination of openly gay clergy in the "west" and the presence of pro-gay bishops at the once-in-a decade gathering of bishops in the UK next month.

The conference was scheduled to be held in Amman, Jordan but the chair of the movement and Archbishop of Nigeria Peter Akinola, was denied entry to Jordan when attempting to cross from Israel.

Led by Dr Akinola, the conservatives, who claim to represent around half of the Anglican Church's 77 million members - many of them in Africa - have threatened to break with their more liberal colleagues over the ordination of an openly-gay bishop and acceptance of same-sex unions in the US.

In 2003, the Episcopal Church, the US wing of Anglicanism, elected Gene Robinson as bishop of New Hampshire. Earlier this month, he entered into a civil union with his partner of 19 years, Mark Andrew, at a private ceremony in a church.

Organisers of the Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON) say more than 1,000 Anglicans including 300 bishops - from Africa, Asia, Australia, England, Latin America and the US - and their spouses are attending the June 22-29 event.

Most of the attendees of the GAFCON will boycott the Lambeth conference, an Anglican summit held once every 10 years where the church decides policy, and which will be held in Canterbury, England from Jul 20 to Aug 4. Unlike GAFCON, the latter event is only open to clergy and their spouses.

Even though the archbishop of Canterbury and spiritual head of the Anglican Communion worldwide, Rowan Williams, did not lend his support to Robinson's ordination, and even refused to meet Robinson during a visit to London, he angered the traditionalists when he invited the Episcopal Church leaders who had ordained him to the Lambeth Conference.

At an opening ceremony on Sunday, Dr Akinola underlined the conservative group's staunch rejection of homosexuality and mission to "rescue what is left of the church from the error of the apostates."

"We reaffirm that the only sexual expression, as taught by scripture, which honours God and upholds human dignity is that between a man and a woman within the sacred ordinance of marriage.

"We further believe that scripture maintains that any other form of sexual expression is at once sinful, selfish, dishonouring to God and an abuse of human dignity."

Other key players of the movement include archbishops Henry Orombi of Uganda; Nicholos Okoh of Nigeria; Emmanuel Kolini of Rwanda; Benjamin Nzimbi of Kenya; Peter Jensen of Australia and bishops Martyn Minns of the Convocation of Anglicans in North America, and North America's Moderator Bishop of Common Cause, Bob Duncan.

The UK Telegraph noted the significant absentees at GAFCON to include the Singapore-based Rt Rev John Chew, Primate of South-east Asia, and Dr Mouneer Anis, treasurer of Global South and Bishop of Jerusalem and the Middle-east of whom neither of them "could be described as anything but theological conservatives."

According to media reports, the Anglican Church in Jerusalem, headed by Bishop Suheil Dawani, is a reluctant host to the event having publicly opposed hosting the conference despite not "not agree(ing) with recent developments in the Episcopal Church concerning sexuality."

The controversial annual Gay Pride Parade, which has repeatedly encountered vehement and sometimes violent opposition from ultra-Orthodox Jewish, Muslim and Christian groups, will take place under massive police protection as the group covers about four city blocks on Jul 26. Some 2,000 people were said to have marched last year.