Guardian Unlimited | The Guardian | Gay bishop row may spark worldwide schism
Archbishop Peter Akinola, leader of the 17.5 million-strong church (of England) in Nigeria, who has declared homosexuality to be an abomination, warned he would precipitate a schism if Canon Jeffrey John becomes suffragan bishop of Reading.
There were fears last night that more than a dozen other churches in developing countries would follow Nigeria's lead if it divides the 70 million-strong worldwide communion between the developed and the developing world.