Katharine Jefferts Schori: One of the things that I think both we in the West and those perhaps in the "Global South" are wont to forget is that all of us are *intimately* connected with everyone else on this planet. One of my longtime friends is fond of saying, "Just remember, the air you breathe contains oxygen molecules that Jesus breathed!" And before too long, they will be breathed by people in Africa and Asia and India and Austrailia, and if there's anybody around, in Antarctica. (Laughter) We are interconnected in ways that we don't understand.
Diane Rehm: But, at the same time, if you'll forgive me, the Archbishop of Canterbury has said that churches in favor of the priesthood for gays may have to surrender full participation in the Anglican Communion. How worried are you about a split?
Katharine Jefferts Schori: I think the coming years--and he's also clear in that report that this conversation is going to take a good long time--we may begin to recover an Anglican way of living with diversity. I can put up with a Communion in which some parts of the church act differently in their local lives than others do, as long as we respect the dignity of all human beings. And I think that the anxiety of the present moment is preventing us from finding a way forward through that.
Diane Rehm: Now, have you spoken directly with the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams?
Katharine Jefferts Schori: I had a very brief conversation with him on the morning after my election.
Diane Rehm: Can you give us an idea of the content of that conversation?
Katharine Jefferts Schori: It was a courtesy call--it was a matter of greetings and welcome. And I think further conversation will wait until after I am installed as the Presiding Bishop.
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