Kenyan Anglicans to break with US church

The Anglican Church in Kenya has announced it will officially sever ties with its US counterpart following the consecration on Sunday of a gay bishop. The announcement is seen as the first stage of what is set to be a painful schism in the worldwide Anglican church, involving the separation of the church in developing countries. The head of the Nigerian Anglican Church has also said it was appalled by the consecration of Bishop Gene Robinson in New Hampshire and added "a state of impaired communion" now divided the Anglican church. Speaking from Kenya, Eldoret Diocese Bishop Thomas Kogo said: "As a church, we are not going to support homosexuality in the church, primarily because it is a sin." He added: "And on that note, we have broken our links with the US Episcopal Church." Kogo said the Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams had been informed and that the move would be formalised at a meeting of Kenyan Anglican bishops in the next two weeks. In Kenya, as in much of Africa, homosexual acts are criminal. The head of the Nigerian Anglican Church Most Rev. Peter Akinola said: "We deplore the act of those bishops who have taken part in the consecration which has now divided the Church."