The Archbishop of Dublin has expressed his fears that a "two-tier" Anglican Communion could emerge over different viewpoints on the recently released Anglican Covenant.

"I don't like two-tier fellowships, but it may be a way forward at the moment," the Most Revd. John Neill told a theological discussion group in March.

Released last December to the church's 34 provinces, the Anglican Covenant represents "an invitation to deepening of relationships" among the Communion's members, according to the Rev. Canon Kenneth Kearon, the church's secretary general, who announced the document's release.

"To covenant together is not intended to change the character of this Anglican expression of Christian faith," the document states. "Rather, we recognise the importance of renewing in a solemn way our commitment to one another, and to the common understanding of faith and order we have received, so that the bonds of affection which hold us together may be re-affirmed and intensified."

While a binding agreement, the Covenant is not intended to be "a constitution, and it's certainly not going to be a penal code for punishing people who don't comply," according to Communion head the Rev. Rowan Williams.

However, disputes over The Episcopal Church's (TEC) election of its second openly gay bishop last have caused doubts over whether the U.S.-based group, as well as the Anglican Church of Canada, will partake in the Covenant.

Bishop Mary Glasspool was elected last month despite requests from the Communion's leadership to exercise "gracious restraint in respect of actions which are contrary to the mind of the Communion."

Conservatives have blasted the Episcopal Church's actions, with some even requesting that Episcopal Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori be disinvited to next year's Primate's Meeting.

Neill's remarks echo those of Williams, who said last July that the issue of homosexuality could result in a "two-track" model of Anglicanism, "one of which had decided that local autonomy had to be the prevailing value and so had in good faith declined a covenantal structure."

"It helps to be clear about these possible futures, however much we think them less than ideal, and to speak about them not in apocalyptic terms of schism and excommunication but plainly as what they are – two styles of being Anglican, whose mutual relation will certainly need working out but which would not exclude co-operation in mission and service of the kind now shared in the Communion," Williams said.

Meanwhile, Irish Archbishop Alan Harper recently expressed his "deep regret" over Glasspool's election, telling the Church of Ireland Gazette that the actions do not "reflect the mind of a majority of those in positions of leadership in the Anglican Communion and it is bound to create even greater stresses within the communion at a time when consultations on an Anglican covenant are at an advanced stage."

He also expressed concerns that TEC's actions could lead to "extraterritorial interventions," or breakaway groups such as the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA), which severed itself from the Episcopal Church last year.

Glasspool's consecration is scheduled for May 15 with Jefferts Schori as the chief consecrator.