WASHINGTON, Nov. 4 — As the thousands gathered at the National Cathedral rang out a deep “amen” and then burst into cheers, Katharine Jefferts Schori formally took office as chief pastor and presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church, making her the first woman to hold such a post in the worldwide Anglican Communion.
Despite the joyous welcome from her supporters, Bishop Jefferts Schori begins her nine-year term as intensifying disputes involving homosexuality threaten to fray the Episcopal Church and rupture its ties with the 77-million-member global Anglican Communion. Several bishops in the United States and leaders of many Anglican provinces overseas have said they will not acknowledge her in the role, largely because they are at sharp odds over her openness to gay men and lesbians in the episcopate and her support of blessings of same-sex marriages.