The Anglican bishops of Africa have endorsed the Windsor Report, supporting the report’s call for a moratorium on the ordination of non-celibate homosexuals and the call for the Episcopal Church to apologize for its unilateral breach of the fellowship of the Anglican Communion by the actions of the 74th General Convention.

Gathered in Lagos, Nigeria, from Oct. 26 to Nov. 1 for the first All Africa Conference of Bishops, some 300 bishops from 12 of the Communion’s 38 provinces discussed the social, political and economic difficulties plaguing the continent.

While much of the conference time dealt with African issues, the bulk of its energy, observers report, was directed at addressing the divisions within the Anglican Communion. Many bishops were animated by comments made days earlier by Presiding Bishop Frank T. Griswold on BBC 1’s “Breakfast with Frost,” raising the specter of schism, as some participants spoke of breaking with the Communion over the continued presence of the Episcopal Church within its ranks.

The bishops’ ire was raised anew by Bishop Griswold’s televised confirmation on Oct. 24 that his statement of “regret” immediately following the Windsor Report’s release did not mean that he would not consecrate another non-celibate homosexual person as bishop. “I think I would attend to the way in which the community makes its decision and if that was prayerfully done, I think I probably would again preside at an ordination,” the Presiding Bishop told host David Frost, adding that he doubted there would be a formal moratorium on the blessing of same-sex unions.

Cooler heads prevailed in the ensuing discussions in Lagos, however, with the bishops endorsing the Windsor Report in an Oct. 28 communiqué.

The bishops endorsed the call on the Episcopal Church “to take seriously the need for ‘repentance, forgiveness and reconciliation enjoined on us by Christ’ and move beyond informal expressions of regret for the effect of their actions to a genuine change of heart and mind.”

Should the Episcopal Church not act in good faith, its “failure to do so would indicate that they have chosen to ‘walk alone’ and follow another religion,” the bishops stated.

The bishops repudiated the Windsor Report’s criticism of the responses by non-U.S. bishops in offering oversight to traditionalist parishes in the U.S. estranged from their bishops. “We reject the moral equivalence drawn between those who have initiated the crisis and those of us in the Global South who have responded to cries for help from beleaguered friends,” the bishops wrote.

“To call on us to ‘express regret’ and reassert our commitment to the Communion is offensive in light of our earlier statements,” the bishops continued, adding that the Episcopal Church brought these responses upon itself. While accepting the call to respect the Delegated Episcopal Pastoral Oversight (DEPO) program, the bishops stated they were “looking for clear evidence” that DEPO would be “effective” and would not hesitate to act to support traditionalists in the U.S. if their bishops did not act in good faith.

In their closing statement, the bishops called for African seminarians to be withdrawn from Western seminaries because of what the bishops perceive as a lack of moral, intellectual and spiritual rigor.

The Rt. Rev. Robert Duncan, Bishop of Pittsburgh and moderator of the Anglican Communion Network, asked pardon from the African bishops for the actions of the Episcopal Church. “I come also to ask for forgiveness,” he said, “for the trouble we in the West — especially in the U.S. — have caused you” and “for our complicity — the complicity of the orthodox—in the West’s unfaithfulness.”

The conference welcomed Bishop Duncan’s remarks, and in their final communiqué participants affirmed their support of the Network. “We salute [the Network’s] boldness, courage and faithful witness and acknowledge them as our partners in mission in the United States of America,” adding that the African churches pledged to the Network its “full weight and support of our ministries.”