OTTAWA, Oct 15, 2007 (AFP) - Anglicans in this capital city voted 177 to 97 in favor of blessing gay marriages over the weekend, becoming the second diocese in Canada to support same-sex unions, a church spokesman said Monday.

The motion was 'overwhelmingly approved' by some 300 clergy and lay people at a meeting of the Anglican Diocese of Ottawa, Brian Sarjeant told AFP.

'They voted to allow clergy whose conscience permits to bless duly solemnized and registered civil marriages between same-sex couples,' he said.

LAGOS, Sept 27, 2007 (AFP) - An influential African archbishop said Thursday that the Anglican church was still in crisis despite the US Episcopal Church agreeing to halt the ordination of gay bishops and blessing same-sex unions.

Benjamin Kwashi, archbishop-elect of Jos province in Nigeria, insisted that the gay crisis was 'not resolved' by the statement by US church leaders.

'The statement by the U.S. Episcopal bishops should be taken with extreme caution,' Kwashi told Nigerian media.

SYDNEY, Sept 27, 2007 (AFP) - The head of the Anglican Church in Australia welcomed Thursday a decision by the US Episcopal Church to halt the ordination of gay bishops and the blessing of same-sex unions.

Archbishop Phillip Aspinall said the Episcopalian House of Bishops had responded positively at a meeting in New Orleans to concerns from international Anglican primates that had threatened to split the church.

NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana, Sept 26, 2007 (AFP) - The US Episcopal Church has agreed to halt ordination of gay bishops and the blessing of same-sex unions, straining to try to prevent a painful split in the global Anglican Communion.

The church leaders who bowed to international pressure on those issues, however, also vowed late Tuesday to continue to fight for the recognition of the civil rights of homosexuals.

'I have no doubt that the General Convention (in 2009) will revisit these issues,' said Presiding Bishop Katherine Jefferts Schori.

NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana, Sept 25, 2007 (AFP) - The US Episcopal Church on Tuesday agreed to halt the ordination of gay bishops and the blessing of same-sex unions until a broader global consensus is reached.

In a move to avoid a split in the global Anglican Communion, Episcopal bishops agreed to 'exercise restraint by not consenting to the consecration of any candidate to the episcopate whose manner of life presents a challenge to the wider church and will lead to further strains on communion.'

NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana, Sept 25, 2007 (AFP) - Leaders of the US Episcopal Church met Tuesday to hammer out a response to opponents of the ordination of openly gay clergy and the blessings of same-sex unions in more liberal diocese.

In the final hours of the six-day House of Bishops meeting in New Orleans, the leaders of the 2.3 million US Episcopalians promised to clarify their stance on the role of gays in the church, which has divided congregations and threatened a split within the 77 million-member worldwide Anglican Communion.

NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana, Sept 21, 2007 (AFP) - Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams said Friday he hoped to avoid a split within the global Anglican communion following crisis talks with the US church over its liberal stance on homosexuality.

Leaders of the US branch of Anglicanism, the Episcopal church, said they expect to have a response to conservative critics of the church's stance by early next week, when the meeting of the House of Bishops here closes.

They also expressed hope of avoiding a schism.

NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana, Sept 20, 2007 (AFP) - Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams held crisis talks Thursday with US bishops to prevent a split in the global communion as a deadline approaches for the US church to reverse its liberal stance on homosexuality.

Bishops described as 'respectful' the seven hours of closed-door deliberations with Williams, who leads the 77-million-strong worldwide Anglican communion and is the highest-ranking cleric in the Church of England.

LONDON, Sept 21, 2007 (AFP) - Nigeria's most senior Anglican said in an interview published Friday that the church was in a state of 'broken communion' as a result of the US branch of the church adopting a liberal position on homosexuality.

The Anglican church has been divided since Gene Robinson, an openly gay priest, was elected as bishop of New Hampshire four years ago, outraging traditionalists, particularly in Africa.

Speaking to The Times, Peter Akinola lamented what he described as the 'intransigence and obstinacy' of the Episcopal Church in the United States.

LONDON, Sept 19, 2007 (AFP) - The leader of the world's Anglicans, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Willliams, is to hold crisis talks with US bishops to prevent a schism over homosexuality, his office said Wednesday.

Leaders of Anglicanism's US branch, the Episcopal Church, will be asked for guarantees that they will not allow the election of any more gay bishops or authorise blessings for same-sex couples.