Hardline church leaders have formally declared the end of the worldwide Anglican communion, saying they could no longer be associated with liberals who tolerate homosexual clergy.
The traditionalists dealt a serious blow to the Archbishop of Canterbury by claiming he can no longer hold the church together.
They warned that the church is gripped by its most serious crisis since the Reformation, and could only be saved by the repentance of the Americans who triggered the row by ordaining an openly homosexual bishop, the Rt Rev Gene Robinson, five years ago.
The formal pronouncement of the schism is contained in an 89-page document titled “The Way, the Truth and the Life”, which has been drawn up by conservative Anglicans ahead of the breakaway Gafcon summit next week and which has been seen by The Telegraph.
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