(http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/MSNBC/Components/Photo/_new/130104-church-of-england-5p.photoblog600.jpg)Yui Mok / AFP - Getty ImagesThe room stand to applaud outgoing Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams as they pay farewell tributes to him during a meeting at the General Synod of the Church of England, at Church House in central London on Nov. 21, 2012.By ReutersThe Church of England has lifted a ban on gay male clergy who live with their partners from becoming bishops on condition they pledge to stay celibate, threatening to reignite an issue that splits the 80-million-strong global Anglican community.
The issue of homointercourseuality has driven a rift between Western and African Anglicans since a Canadian diocese approved blessings for same-intercourse couples in 2002 and U.S. Anglicans in the Episcopal Church appointed an openly gay man as a bishop in 2003.
Follow @NBCNewsWorld (https://twitter.com/NBCNewsWorld)The Church of England, struggling to remain relevant in modern Britain despite falling numbers of believers, is already under pressure after voting narrowly last November to maintain a ban on women becoming bishops.
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