Africa's Anglican bishops have ended their first continent-wide gathering by reiterating what they said was their "biblical position" in the controversy within the worldwide Anglican communion about homosexuality.
"God created us male and female and we cannot sacrifice truth for any revisionist agenda which leans on a faulty understanding of Christian unity," the bishops said in a statement after a six-day gathering in Nigeria's capital, Lagos.
The bishops met a week after the release of the Windsor Report, written by an Anglican commission seeking to find a way of preventing a schism over the issue of homosexuality in the 78-million-strong Anglican communion.
In their statement, the Anglican bishops said, "We note with approval that the Windsor Report calls for a moratorium on the ordination, election and consecration of any candidate to the Episcopate who is living in a same gender union, and the blessing of same sex unions."
The report criticized the US and Canadian churches and urged them to apologize to other believers within the Anglican communion who they had offended by their actions.
African Anglican primates had earlier said that failure by the US and Canadian churches to adopt "a genuine change of heart and mind" would indicate that they "follow another religion".
In a published statement the primates said "We believe the report correctly points out that the Episcopal Church USA and the [Canadian] Diocese of New Westminster have pushed the Anglican communion to the breaking point."
Obed Minchakpu, ENI
