The leader of the global Anglican Communion faced enormous pressure Wednesday to repudiate recent moves in North America toward acceptance of gay relationships as world Anglican leaders gathered for an emergency meeting seeking reconciliation.
Thirty-seven Anglican leaders - called primates - began the two-day meeting in Lambeth Palace, the historic London building where the Anglican Communion was formed, after conservative leaders threatened to leave the association over the issue of homosexuality.
The communion's spiritual leader, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, called the unprecedented meeting in August after a decision by the Episcopal Church, the U.S. branch of the Anglicans, to ratify the election of its first openly gay bishop, which sparked the crisis.
Williams' spokesman, the Rev. Jonathan Jennings, told reporters that the mood was "relaxed" as the leaders met Wednesday morning in the palace chapel. Officials confirmed that one primate - Bishop Ignacio C. Soliba of the Episcopal Church in the Philippines - did not attend, because of a previous commitment.
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