London, England, Feb 24, 2005 / 22:00 pm
The U.S. Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church of Canada withdrew yesterday from a key body of the worldwide Anglican Communion.
It marked the first formal split in the communion over the issues of homosexuality and same-sex unions, which had become intense issues in the last two years. The U.S. church consecrated an openly homosexual bishop, and the Anglican church in both countries have begun blessing same-sex unions.
The Anglican primates, who gathered for a five-day meeting in Northern Ireland to discuss the explosive issue, issued a statement saying that the withdrawal of the two churches from the Anglican Consultative Council is temporary, until 2008.
James Rosenthal, spokesman for the Anglican Communion, said the U.S. and Canadian churches voluntarily withdrew.