Hundreds of Anglican bishops are due to attend a special service at Canterbury Cathedral to mark the official opening of the Lambeth Conference.

The meeting has been overshadowed by controversy, with the Communion deeply divided about homosexuality after a gay man was made a bishop in the US.

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Critics claim the conference, which will hold its first formal session on Monday, will be unable to end the row.

Undermining unity

Bishops representing Anglicans in 160 countries had arrived in Canterbury the previous week for three days of quiet reflection.

They will gather in the Cathedral for Holy Communion and to hear a sermon from a Sri Lankan bishop.

The issue of homosexuality will not be formally discussed until the end of the conference, and no resolution will be held - a move criticised by traditionalists.

The Church's mission and evangelisation, human sexuality, social justice, the environment and violence against women will also be discussed.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, has acknowledged that the Communion's problems are unlikely to be solved during the conference.

But he criticised those bishops who have stayed away for undermining unity.

Those who will not attend include the Anglican leaders of Nigeria, Rwanda, Kenya, Uganda and a group of countries in southern South America.

The most senior Church of England figure to stay away is the Bishop of Rochester, the Rt Rev Michael Nazir-Ali.

The debate about homosexuality in the Anglican Church has followed the consecration in the US of the openly gay Bishop of New Hampshire, the Rt Rev Gene Robinson.

Bishop Robinson will be present on the fringes of the conference, which is being held at the University of Kent.

The controversy over his appointment led Dr Williams not to invite him to attend.

(BBC)

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