church bishops

V. Gene Robinson, the first openly gay bishop in the Episcopal Church, is predicting that the Anglican Communion will eventually splinter, two years after U.S. church leaders triggered global outrage by approving his election.

The Episcopal diocese of San Joaquin in California has sued a deposed bishop, demanding he vacate his offices and turn over financial accounts for leading a secession last year prompted by the church's ordination of women and gays. The diocese said in its lawsuit, filed Thursday in Fresno County superior court, that John-David Schofield breached his duties to the church. National church leaders removed Schofield as the head of the Fresno-based diocese after he led parishioners to align themselves with the conservative Province of the Southern Cone, an Argentina-based member of the worldwide Anglican Communion.

At an official meeting of church leaders this week, Africa's Anglican bishops have attacked their U.S. counterparts for failing to condemn homosexuality.

The openly gay dean of St. Mark's Episcopal Cathedral in Seattle, the Very Reverend Robert Taylor (pictured), and the lesbian rector of All Saints' Church in Chicago, the Reverend Bonnie Perry, are among five finalists for the position of bishop of the diocese of California.

Pittsburgh's bishop could face discipline if he continues to support efforts to split his diocese from the Episcopal Church, the presiding bishop of the national church warned in a letter. Representatives of the Pittsburgh diocese are set to vote Friday during their annual convention in Johnstown, Pa., on constitutional amendments that would start the process of splitting from the national church. Pittsburgh bishop Robert Duncan is among the leaders of a conservative U.S. movement that believes the Episcopal Church is abandoning the primary authority of Scripture, with biblical teachings on sexuality being the flash point of the debate.