South Asia Bishops take stand against homosexuality, calls for unity: Lambeth conference

South Asia Bishops attending the Lambeth conference in London, took a united stand against Homosexuality, and called for Humility and unity among Churches.

A statement by the Bishops from the united churches of South Asia, which includes Church of South India, Church of North India, Church of Pakistan and Church of Bangladesh "embodied the unity of God's church in fulfillment of Lord's high priestly prayer that they may be all one."

"We represent nearly a quarter of the human race practicing and living all the major faiths of the world. We are grateful for our heritage of different church traditions, which have contributed, to our formation. The Anglican Communion, being the one common thread, connecting us all," said the statement.

The Bishops applauded the initiative of the Archbishop of Canterbury in organizing the Lambeth conference highlighting urgent issues of poverty, deprivation, exploitation and disease in the world and demanding speedy implementation of Millennium Development Goals.

"We call upon the Anglican Communion to seriously take up this challenge and help to restore the dignity of the exploited and abused humanity. This will certainly mean an equitable sharing of resources within the Communion," urged the Bishops.

Furthermore, they exhorted the Communion to stand in solidarity with the marginalized and oppressed religious minorities and work for equitable justice to all especially to the women, children and dalits of South Asia and in other parts of the world as members of the one Body of Christ.

"So, we invite the whole Communion to do some heart–searching and in humility walk the Calvary Road so that our differences, self–justifications and arrogant attitudes may be crucified and that we all experience the power of the resurrection for the transformation of our life together in the Communion," the Bishops said in the statement.

The Lambeth conference held in Canterbury is a key event for the worldwide Anglican Communion, which has around 77 million followers. In total, about 800 bishops and archbishops were invited to attend the 20–day conference, which concludes on August 4, 2008.

Participants at the Lambeth Conference covered subjects including evangelisation, human sexuality, social justice and issues such as the environment and violence against women.