Kuala Lumpur, December 5 – The Anglican Church of Southeast Asia announced today that it was severing ties with its American counterpart over the ordination of a homosexual bishop, further deepening the church's divisions over the issue.
The Reverend Yong Ping Chung, Anglican Primate of Southeast Asia, said that representatives of some 170,000 faithful in eight Asian countries voted unanimously on November 20 to break away from the Episcopal Church, the American branch of the worldwide Anglican Church.
The vote, at a special meeting of the region's synod, was decided after the ordination of Gene Robinson as bishop of New Hampshire on Nov. 2, an appointment that revealed the gulf that exists between liberals and conservatives in the Anglican church.
""The province regrets that communion with the Episcopal Church and with those who voted for and participated in the ordination is now broken," the Rev. Yong said in a statement faxed to The Associated Press.
The primate clarified that his community considers that Bishop Robinson's ordination "flagrantly disregards the fundamental teachings of the Bible and the long-established doctrines of the Church.".
The Anglican Church of Southeast Asia represents approximately 170,000 faithful in several countries, including Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and Cambodia.