As the great organ thundered beneath the medieval arches of England's Canterbury Cathedral, 525 bishops last week joined in a sung Eucharist to conclude the Lambeth Conference, the once-a-decade meeting of the international Anglican hierarchy. The bishops' matching robes of red, white and black gave a superficial impression of unity, as did the compromise measures they had enacted. "Some thought this conference was impossible. Reason and experience suggested we would fall apart. But by keeping our eyes on the Lord, we have not sunk," said a relieved Archbishop of Canterbury Robert Runcie, the Anglicans' spiritual leader.
Though the latest Lambeth Conference...