VATICAN CITY (AP) -- The consecration of an openly gay bishop by the Episcopal Church in the United States has jolted Catholic-Anglican relations, a sign of spreading disapproval among Christian denominations around the world.
Two months after Pope John Paul II warned that the elevation of V. Gene Robinson as bishop of New Hampshire could mean "serious difficulties" in efforts to unify Catholics and Anglicans, the Vatican announced Tuesday that a February meeting in Seattle to work on a common statement of faith "would have to be put on hold."
It also said a new committee will be formed to "reflect jointly" on the implications of Robinson's Nov. 2 consecration.
The Vatican announcement came days after the Most Rev. Frank Griswold, presiding bishop of the U.S. Episcopal Church, resigned as co-chair and member of the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission.
"I do so not without regret, but in the interest of not jeopardizing the present and future life and work of the commission of which I was privileged to be a member," Griswold said in a letter released by the Anglican Communion.
The Episcopal Church is the U.S. branch of the 77 million-member global Anglican Communion.
The consecration has caused a rift among the various Anglican churches as well as within the Episcopal Church itself.
Tuesday's Vatican statement said the Anglican Communion and the Catholic Church "remain committed to continuing their dialogue" and that subcommittees would continue their work.
Other denominations have been stronger in their condemnations.
The Russian Orthodox Church announced last month that it was suspending ties with the U.S. Episcopal Church, saying that homosexuality is a sin and that it "cannot condone the perversion of human nature."
The Oriental Orthodox Churches have suspended their ecumenical talks until the Anglicans settle their internal disputes over homosexuality. These include the Armenian Church, Syrian Orthodox Patriarchate, Coptic Orthodox Church of Egypt and the Ethiopian Orthodox Church.
The pope issued his warning during talks with the archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, on Oct. 4, saying the difficulties involved "essential matters of faith and morals."
The Anglicans split from Rome more than four centuries ago when King Henry VIII bolted in 1534 over the pope's refusal to grant him an annulment.
Catholics and Anglicans have been engaged in talks to overcome theological divisions.
The Vatican recently issued a broad condemnation of homosexuality, calling it a "troubling moral and social phenomenon" and restating the position that homosexual acts were "intrinsically disordered."
