The Anglican Church may have to accept a "two track" communion in which believers can hold different opinions about gay clergy and same-sex unions, the Archbishop of Canterbury said Monday in a bid to keep the church unified.

Rowan Williams outlined his thoughts on the future of the deeply divided church on his Web site a few days after the U.S. Episcopalian church authorized bishops to bless same-sex unions and research an official prayer for the ceremonies.

The move dismayed more traditional members of the Anglican Church, and Williams, the church's spiritual leader, is now trying to keep the communion unified.

He wrote that "a blessing for a same-sex union cannot have the authority of the Church Catholic, or even of the Communion as a whole," but suggested there may have to be a "two-track" model where the church allowed different viewpoints on certain issues.

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Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams

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