Lord George L. Carey, the retired 103rd Archbishop of Canterbury who headed the Anglican Church until 2002, led back-to-back confirmation services last week at the historic Truro Church in Fairfax, Va. Carey reportedly told the media during a press conference after the services that he objected to the Los Angeles Diocese's move to file lawsuits against the three churches that seceded and placed themselves under the Diocese of Luwero, in the Anglican Union province of Uganda, Africa.

"[Bishop Jon J. Bruno] should recognize that the bishop of Uganda is part of the Anglican Communion," Carey said, according to the website of the Christian Challenge, an independent publication targeting Anglicans and Episcopalians worldwide.

"There's room, therefore, for understanding and generosity without going to the law," Carey said. "The Diocese of Los Angeles, joined by [the Episcopal Church], has gone to court to try to take back the property of the three departing parishes."

The Episcopal Church of United States is also considered part of the Anglican Communion.

Carey also noted during the conference that ordination of women, which many Episcopal churches objected to in the late 1970s, is not the same as appointing a homosexual as bishop, the website said. The Episcopal Church recently appointed Gene Robinson, an openly gay man, as the bishop of New Hampshire.

Carey's statements in support of the churches "are huge," said Praveen Bunyan, pastor of St. James Church on Via Lido.

The church has been fighting the diocese's claims that it owns the church and surrounding property.

"The archbishop, although he has retired, has a lot of clout in the Anglican Communion," Bunyan said. "What he says is heard by the whole world."

But John Shiner, attorney for the diocese, said Carey's opinion is as good as anyone else's.

"It's just one individual's opinion," he said. "The current Archbishop of Canterbury has not criticized the bishop of Los Angeles or the diocese for the legal actions that have been taken."

Shiner expects to file an injunction next week asking that St. James and other churches be stopped from doing anything with the respective properties until the issue is resolved in court, he said.

Bunyan maintained that Carey's statement is yet another indication that the boundaries within the Anglican Communion are being redefined.

"The boundaries are not geographic any more," he said. "Churches would rather be affiliated with a diocese they agree with doctrinally and theologically than be aligned with a diocese because they are in the same geographical region."

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