One of the largest provinces in the Anglican Church has voted to “extend its jurisdiction” to cover the whole of the US.

The decision marks the formal start of a "realignment" of the Anglican Communion in the row over gays and could help stave off actual schism.

The province of the Southern Cone, which includes Argentina, Peru and Chile and is headed by expatriate British Bishop Greg Venables, is offering itself as a “safe haven” for traditionalist US dioceses that wish to secede over gays.

The plan will allow disaffected US dioceses to leave the oversight of The Episcopal Church Primat Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori but to remain within the body of the Anglican Communion and in communion with the Archbishop of Canterbury.

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BACKGROUND

• Gay weddings flourish in a religious stronghold

• Pope to discuss influx of Anglicans

• US Church pledges not to consecrate gay bishops

• Bishop defects to Catholic Church in gay row

BACKGROUND

• Pro-gay agenda pushes Church closer to schism

• Archbishop of Canterbury's 'secret gay communion'

• Archbishop faces clash over gay marriages of 50 priests

According to well-informed insiders, Dr Rowan Williams, while opposed to separatist solutions to the Anglican crisis, has described the plan of Bishop Venables as a “sensible way forward.”

Up to five dioceses in the US are understood to be interested in moving to the Southern Cone province. They include San Joaquin, Fort Worth and Pittsburgh. The development is unprecedented. While provinces such as Nigeria and Uganda have ordained bishops to pastor US parishes, none has yet agreed to take on board an entire diocese.

In a recent letter to one traditionalist US bishop, Dr Williams indicated the strenth of his support for diocesan autonomy. He said: “The organ of union with the wider Church is the Bishop and the Diocese rather than the Provincial structure as such.”

Bishop Jefferts Schori has made it clear that she will take legal action under canon law against any bishops that lead their dioceses into another province. The legal actions will enable canon lawyers to focus for the first time on the extent to which traditional diocesan autonomy in Anglican and Catholic church structures is a reality.

Four US diocesan bishops met Bishop Venables and his bishops at his episcopal headquarters in Buenos Aires in August to discuss the plan. Bishop Venables met Dr Williams in London in September where they discussed the proposal.

In an interview with The Times, Bishop Venables said: “We have talked with a number of US dioceses and bishops. They think the could remain within the Anglican Communion if they are no longer part of The Episcopal Church. So we took an overwhelming decision in our provincial synod this week to receive into our province any diocese that wishes to come.”

The diocese must first go through the necessary synodical procedures to separate from The Episcopal Church. The San Joaquin diocese is furthest down this road. Bishop Venables said: “It is a bit like a refugee situation. If next door’s children come running out in the middle of the night, the first response must be to give them a safe place before you find out what is going on and sort it out.”

The Southern Cone province has about 40,000 members, with a large number consisting of Wichi, Toba, Mapuche, Lengua and Chorote Amerindians. It is one of the smallest provinces numerically but one of the biggest geographically, covering six countries from Tierra del Fuego to northern Peru.

The Southern Cone province was founded in 1983 but existed as a diocese since the mid-19th century, under the province of Canterbury. The Falkland Islands are still under Canterbury because of the 1982 conflict.

Anglican missionaries went to South America in the 19th century specifically to save the Amerindian tribes from extinction. Charles Darwin inspired their journey by telling British missionary Allen Gardiner that they were among the most endangered indiginous peoples. Gardiner went on to lead the first Anglican mission to Amerindians in South America. Although Gardiner died of starvation on the beach in Tierra del Fuego in the 1840s, his death inspired others to take up the work, including the present Bishop Venables.