"Difficult days ahead" after US vote for gay bishop: Anglican leader

LONDON, Aug 6 (AFP) - The Archbishop of Canterbury, spiritual leader of the world's Anglicans, foresees "difficult days" ahead, his spokesman said after the US Episcopal Church Tuesday confirmed the election of its first gay bishop, in an historic but divisive vote.

The archbishop, Rowan Williams, said in a statement issued in London: "It is my hope that the church in America and the rest of the Anglican Communion will have the opportunity to consider this development before significant and irrevocable decisions are made in response.

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"I have said before that we need as a church to be very careful about making decisions for our own part of the world which constrain the church elsewhere," added the archbishop, who is considered a liberal.

Williams' spokesman added: "The Archbishop of Canterbury has said that difficult days lie ahead for the Anglican Church after the decision of the Episcopal Church of the United States of America to confirm the election of Canon Gene Robinson as Bishop of New Hampshire."

Conservatives within the two-million strong US denomination and the wider international Anglican communion have fiercely opposed Robinson's appointment which they believe runs counter to Biblical teachings, and warned it could lead to a schism in the church.

Williams said the US decision to approve the appointment "will inevitably have a significant impact on the Anglican Communion throughout the world and it is too early to say what the result of that will be."

The archbishop added: "It will be vital to ensure that the concerns and needs of those across the Communion who are gravely concerned at this development can be heard, understood and taken into account."

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