Mar 03, 2006  |  By: ELIZABETH WEILL-GREENBERG  | COMMENTS     

Bishop John Bryson Chane of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington, D.C., is again publicly assailing Archbishop Peter J. Akinola for supporting anti-gay policies in the church and in his home country of Nigeria.

Akinola, however, is not the only problem in Chane’s view. He’s also critical of the silence from Episcopal leaders on gay rights issues.

"We’ve been very silent, cautious, concerned about being reconcilers," Chane told the Blade in an interview this week. "At a point I am no longer willing to watch the Episcopal Church be a punching bag which it has become."

In an opinion column published in the Feb. 26 edition of the Washington Post, Chane criticized Akinola for supporting a Nigerian law that forbids same-sex marriage and prohibits gays from assembling and petitioning their government.

Nigeria also allows prosecution of newspapers that publish information about same-sex relationships and religious groups that allow same-sex unions, Chane wrote. Those who violate the law can be sentenced to five years in prison.

Last September, Chane lashed out at Akinola, accusing him of prioritizing sexuality over poverty.

Akinola is the unofficial spokesperson for the conservative elements within the Anglican Church. In the United States, the Protestant Episcopal Church of the United States of America is a member of the international Anglican Communion.

The Nigerian archbishop has said homosexuality is an "aberration unknown even in animal relationships."

Akinola has been outspoken in his criticism of the American Episcopal Church for its pro-gay policies, especially after the consecration of the first openly gay bishop, V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire in 2003. Akinola also criticized the Church of England because it approved of gay clergy entering into domestic partnerships as long as they remain celibate.

Since the consecration of Robinson, who made headlines again last month when he publicly acknowledged he was being treated for alcohol abuse, battles within the Anglican Communion over interpretations of church teachings have occurred both domestically and internationally.

But unlike the outcry over the Episcopal Church’s inclusion of gay congregants, there has been silence in response to Akinola’s support for the new Nigerian law, Chane said.

The new law "wouldn’t pass the test of the Bill of Rights of this country," Chane said. "In a situation like that you have to stand up and address that."

In Chane’s opinion column, he criticized U.S. "orthodox" leaders who work with or financially support Akinola for not speaking out against the archbishop’s support for the new Nigerian law.

Akinola, Chane wrote, is "the most powerful member of a global alliance of conservative bishops and theologians, generously supported by foundations and individual donors in the United States."

A ‘dysfunctional family’

The Institute on Religion & Democracy, a conservative Christian group based in Washington, D.C., is one member of the network that Chane decries.

Chane "raises a legitimate concern about the Nigerian law relating to sexual expression," said Alan Wisdom, interim president at the Institute on Religion & Democracy. "We would oppose a law like that."

However, Wisdom said, Chane, "tries to make Archbishop Akinola out to be this intolerant hateful person that we have not found him to be."

But it’s not only the silence from "orthodox" leaders that Chane is decrying. It’s the silence from Episcopal Church leaders and their reticence to publicly condemn Akinola and his supporters, he said.

Chane said that out of the approximately 100 e-mails he received in response to his column, 99 percent have echoed that sentiment, adding that, "it’s about time somebody spoke up." There have been some death threats via e-mail, he claimed.

The church is a "dysfunctional family," Chane said, that must be open and truthful about its position on gay rights in order to heal. "I’m very frustrated there has not been more public discussion generated by leaders of the Episcopal Church," he said. "We have been silent about addressing this stuff."

While the "orthodox" segment of the Anglican Communion is well organized and well funded, the more liberal faction has "sat back and been very patient," he said. This is a strategy that, Chane said, may not be working.

"It’s kind of like building a bridge but it takes people on both sides of the river to make it happen," said Chane.

As the divide deepens between the two factions of the church, many have predicted that the Anglican Communion will split. Last year, Robinson told the Associated Press that he predicted a global schism in the Anglican Communion.

Asked if he agrees that there will be a split, Chane said, "There is a brokenness already." The church’s current governing structure is not working, he said.