At the end of a second day of talks, Justin Welby, the archbishop of Canterbry, was thought to be maintaining a fragile hold over the fractious gathering of 38 primates.

The 38 leaders are cloistered in the medieval crypt of Canterbury Cathedral this week after being summoned by Welby, in an attempt to move the Anglican communion beyond its paralysis over the issue of sexuality. Welby wants the communion, which has 85 million members worldwide, to focus on important issues such as religious violence and climate change.

At the start of the second day of talks, Peter Jensen, the chair of Gafcon, an alliance of conservative Anglican churches deeply opposed to gay rights and same-sex marriage, released a video message saying: “The power of God is at work.”

He said supporters of Gafcon primates had emailed messages of encouragement, telling them “to stand for the truth, which is what they intend to do”. Such messages and prayers of support from around the world were crucial “when you’ve got to make a stand and exercise leadership”, he added.

Welby proposes that, in the face of intractable strife, the communion should refashion itself as a loose confederation of churches rather than being adherent to a common doctrine.

Source: http://www.theguardian.com/