Gay row could split church
The Bishop of Lichfield has said a rift in the Church of England over the issue of gay bishops is likely to lead to a permanent split.
The Bishop of Lichfield has said a rift in the Church of England over the issue of gay bishops is likely to lead to a permanent split.
The Rt Rev Jonathan Gledhill said the American Churches were wrong to appoint a gay bishop and said 95 per cent of the Anglican Community would agree.
Churches in America have been given until September 30 to reverse their stance on gay bishops by the Anglican Communion.
Religious leaders in the UK have said it could split the Church of England.
The Bishop of Lichfield told the Express & Star he had a traditional view of homosexuality and viewed the appointment of gay bishops as wrong.
He said: "I have friends who are gay and I am very fond of them and life is very complex for them.
"I don't want a split at all but the reason for it not so much the moral issue, it is the fact the Americans have gone ahead without a debate. We need to have a debate, that's the real cause of the split.
"It may be that the American churches are allowed to split and get on with it while the rest of the church gets back to debating it.
"Appointing a gay bishop, in my view, was wrong and I think 95 per cent of the Anglican Communion would agree with me."
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, met with America's bishops this week in a last-ditch effort to keep the church in the worldwide Anglican Communion.
The Americans had been asked to stop electing and consecrating non-celibate gay priests as bishops, discontinue performing same-sex marital blessings and offer a sincere expression of regret for "tearing the fabric" of the communion by consecrating Reverend Canon Gene Robinson as Bishop of New Hampshire.
A lesbian is also being considered as Bishop of Chicago.
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