Episcopal Leaders Ok Gay Bishop

[Good Friday]

Episcopal Leaders OK Gay Bishop

By RACHEL ZOLL, The Associated Press

MINNEAPOLIS (Aug. 5) - The Episcopal Church voted Tuesday to approve the election of its first openly gay bishop, a decision that risks splitting the denomination and shattering ties with its sister churches worldwide.

After a delay caused by an allegation that he inappropriately touched another man and was affiliated with a Web site that had a link to porn, the Episcopal General Convention approved the Rev. V. Gene Robinson as bishop of the Diocese of New Hampshire.

Robinson had been cleared of the accusations a few hours before the vote was taken.

Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold said the bishops voted 62-45 to confirm Robinson's election. Two bishops abstained from voting, but their ballots under church rules were counted as ''no'' votes.

American conservatives and like-minded overseas bishops who represent millions of parishioners have said confirming Robinson would force them to consider breaking away from the church.

The Episcopal Church, with 2.3 million members, is the U.S. branch of the 77 million-member global Anglican Communion.

After the results were announced, Bishop Robert Duncan of Pittsburgh, a conservative who had campaigned against Robinson, stood at the podium in the House of Bishops, surrounded by fellow conservatives, and read a speech saying he and the others were ''filled with sorrow.''

He said the Episcopal Church has ''divided itself from millions of Anglicans throughout the world.''

''This body willfully confirming the election of a person sexually active outside of holy matrimony has departed from the historic faith and order of Jesus Christ,'' he said.

Duncan called on the bishops of the Anglican Communion and Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, head of the communion, ''to intervene in the pastoral emergency that has overtaken us.''

''May God have mercy on this church,'' Duncan said.

The church has been debating the role of gays for decades. A win by Robinson was expected to build momentum for other policy changes that would be favorable to homosexuals.

The denomination has no official rules - either for or against - ordaining gays.

Some Episcopal parishes already allow homosexual clergy to serve and gays who did not reveal their sexual orientation have served as bishops. But Robinson is the first clergyman in the Anglican Communion to live openly as a gay man before he was elected.

In 1998, Anglican leaders approved a resolution calling gay sex ''incompatible with Scripture.'' Bishops who hold that view believe that allowing Robinson to serve would be a tacit endorsement of ordaining homosexuals.

Robinson, a 56-year-old divorced father of two, has been living with his male partner for 13 years and serving as an assistant to the current New Hampshire bishop, who is retiring. Parishioners there said they chose Robinson simply because he was the best candidate.

Under church rules, a majority of bishops, clergy and lay people serving as convention delegates had to ratify Robinson's election.

On Sunday, the House of Deputies, a legislative body comprised of clergy and lay people from dioceses nationwide, approved Robinson by a 2-to-1 margin; a committee endorsed him by secret ballot Friday. The House of Bishops voted to do the same.

The final vote had been scheduled for Monday but was delayed at the last minute for an investigation of the claims against Robinson.

Bishop Gordon Scruton of Western Massachusetts, who conducted the investigation, determined Tuesday that there was no need for a full-blown inquiry and the debate on Robinson proceeded immediately after.

Scruton said the touching incident ''was in public view and was brief'' and happened at a church meeting where Robinson put his hand on a man's back and arm while engaged in a conversation.

The claim of inappropriate touching was e-mailed to Vermont Bishop Thomas Ely by David Lewis of Manchester, Vt. A family friend said Tuesday that Lewis never intended the allegations to go public. Scruton said Lewis told him he did not want to file a formal complaint.

The other concern was a pornographic link found on a Web site of Outright, a secular outreach program for gay and bisexual youth. Robinson helped found the Concord, N.H., chapter of the group, but Scruton said the clergyman ended his association with the organization in 1998 and ''was not aware that the organization has a Web site until this convention.''

''In both allegations it is my conclusion that there is no necessity to pursue further investigation,'' Scruton said in a speech to bishops.

If conservatives do decide to break away, it is unclear what that would mean for the Episcopal Church. Some parishes could split from their dioceses and refuse to recognize clergy who support homosexuality, but stop short of a complete separation.

A full schism would trigger, among other things, bitter fights over parish assets and undercut the global influence of the U.S. church.

Griswold and Williams each issued pleas for unity before the national meeting began.

Those who support a wider role for gays in the church contend that conservatives exaggerated the potential for a split, and note that among the bishops threatening to leave are some who pledged to walk away before over issues such as ordaining women - then did not follow through.

But many Episcopalians believe the debate over homosexuality has been more divisive.

Bishops from Africa, Asia and Latin America, representing more than a third of Anglican Communion members worldwide, took the unprecedented step this year of severing relations with a diocese that authorizes same-sex blessings - the Diocese of New Westminster, based in Vancouver, British Columbia.

One of the leaders in that split was Archbishop Peter Akinola, head of the Anglican Church of Nigeria, which serves 17.5 million people and ranks second in size to the mother Church of England among 38 Anglican branches.

Some conservative American parishes had already formed breakaway movements, such as the Anglican Mission in America, which remains within the Anglican Communion but rejects the Episcopal Church.

The American Anglican Council, which represents conservative Episcopalians, said before Monday's vote that if delegates approved Robinson's election, opponents would hold an ''extraordinary meeting'' in October to decide their next move.

[VanHooty]

It was only a matter of time, I think. The liberals and conservatives of the Anglican and Episcopalian churches have been at each others' throats for a long time now. It was a situation waiting to explode.

Then again, who knows. Maybe they'll all stick together. I myself am not optimistic though.

[Paladin D]

And so it begins...

[God Conquers]

Kofi Annan has just endorsed homosexual marriage and believes rights such as homosexuality and abortion should be written into the hUMAN rIGHTS ACT. We're coming up on a time of persecution folks, break out the swords and seize the crowns of martyrdom.

[hyperdulia again]

liberalism is too lazy to martyr anyone.

[littleflower+JMJ]

i wish that was true :unsure:

[Kilroy the Ninja]

Wonder how many Episcopals we can bring back into the fold....

Hey, if you're going to buy a sword, make sure it can hold an edge! There are alot of shifty sword salesmen out there! (Say that ten times fast!) :D

:ph34r:

[cmotherofpirl]

We will probably gain converts like we did when the Anglicans started ordaining women priests.

[hyperdulia again]

they're gonna end up being their own rite in the catholic church i know it.

[God Conquers]

That would be cool. I bet the whole Nigerian Communion becomes Catholic! That would be amazing!

[PedroX]

Hyper,

Just a bit a trivia, but Anglican parishes are currently allowed to convert enmasse, and continue their Anglican Rite, usually using the 1928 edition of the Book of Common Prayer. This is subject to approval by the local ordinary, and the Vatican.

peace...

[hyperdulia again]

i know that, but they're still in the roman rite (like indulted tridentine parishes). i think they are going to have their own rite in the church, their own organizational structure, etc.

[jasJis]

Personal struggles and current status with homosexuality is one thing. How can a Church endorse homosexuality? Can a Church endorse homosexuality and create moral norms within it? For example, what validl basis would condemnation of pre-marital sex for homosexuals have? It's not like anyone would get pregnant? Any logic of it being closed to Life would be non-existent. The Catholic Church teaches that sex within society is intended to create life. We have other blessings that go along with sex in building and establishing relationships. This is mirrored in Society and the family, but the problems of self-indulgent sex in Society is mirrored with problems in Society and the family. Creating life is not the sole purpose of sex, but it's main purpose. Blessing of sex with no potential for life diminshes the idea that sex is a gift from God that He also manifests Himeself to us as individuals and to the world.

Maybe this is good news. Maybe this will bring many Anglicans back to the fullness of the Truth.

[Jake Huether]

Dollars to doughnuts more and more protestant churches will begin to collaps too! I believe they began to collaps when they started to accept contraception. It's all about springboards. Build yourself one, and you set yourself up for more.

Thank God the Catholic Church, His True Church, has none.

[benedict_x]

Here Here!