Yet when it came time to invade Iraq, the United States acted virtually alone, Wright said in a phone interview from England. He compared that action to the Episcopal Church's consecration of an openly gay bishop against existing church polity.

"So why should the world listen to the [Episcopalians in the] United States when changing Episcopal Church law?" he asked. "It is bound to be perceived as, 'There you go again.' It's more of the same."

Wright will be in Pittsburgh today through Thursday to speak at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary's Schaff Lectures and talk at churches in the region. As the fourth most important bishop in the Church of England after the bishops of Canterbury, York and London, Wright's comments carry weight beyond that province and throughout the 70-million-member Anglican Communion, which also includes the Episcopal Church, USA.

Author of more than 30 books, he also is a member of the 19-member Lambeth Commission formed in October by the Archbishop of Canterbury. Its mission is to find ways of keeping the worldwide Anglican Communion from disintegrating in the wake of the Episcopal Church's ordination of an openly gay bishop and a Canadian diocese's sanctioning of same-sex blessings.

Wright said the primary question to be answered by the Lambeth Commission is one of communion, not homosexuality. The consecration of the Rt. Rev. Gene Washington as bishop of New Hampshire was counter to several previous Anglican resolutions, he said.

"We're looking at questions of how you hold the church together when that happens," Wright said. "Only secondarily is the question of homosexuality."

The Lambeth Commission held its first meeting in February. A second is scheduled for North Carolina in June. Its final report to the archbishop is due in September.

Wright was a logical choice for the commission. In addition to his senior position in the Church of England, he taught New Testament studies for 20 years at universities in England and Canada, and participated in numerous international debates on church doctrine.
Commission members have agreed not to reveal details of their work.

He has no plans during his stay to meet with Diocese of Pittsburgh Bishop Robert W. Duncan Jr. Duncan is moderator of the Anglican Communion Network, which seeks alternate Episcopal oversight for parishes and individuals who disagree with their diocese's stand on gay clergy and same-sex blessings.

Wright's own opinion -- "It is inappropriate to ordain to regular ministries those who are active, practicing homosexuals" -- is well known. The key to any discussion, he said, is dispensing with rhetoric.
"We need to claim the right and the duty to think through individual issues on a case-by-case basis instead of going with a knee-jerk reaction," he said.

"The best case I can think of at this moment ... is for a lot of real listening all around. That has to be listening not to rhetoric but a real digging into what the real issues are," such as scripture and the church's creation doctrine.

He is less sanguine about the future of the Anglican Communion should the debate not be resolved.

The communion, he said, "simply could come apart at the seams."
"We really don't know what that would look like."
The topic of Wright's lectures is "Putting Paul Back Together Again."

END