Gay bishop 'won't step down'

Supporters of the first openly gay Anglican bishop say he will refuse to step aside despite the risk of a worldwide split in the Church.

In a statement from the New Hampshire diocese in America, local church officials said that bishop-elect Gene Robinson would stay in the post and that his homosexuality was irrelevant.

"His sexuality was incidental to his call to serve as our bishop," the statement said. A friend of Canon Robinson said that he was "not going to back down".

Earlier, a crisis conference of Anglican world leaders called by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, condemned his election.

It would "tear at the fabric of the Anglican communion at its deepest level", warned a statement signed by all 37 clergy at the meeting.

They added: "If his consecration proceeds, we recognise that we have reached a crucial point in the life of the Anglican communion.

"We have had to conclude that the future of the communion itself will be put in jeopardy."

With Canon Robinson due to be formally elected on 2 November, the Episcopal Church - as the American wing is known - must now decide if it will allow the final consecration.

The choices are a damaging split inside the American Church, which is increasingly supportive of gay clergy, or being shunned by more conservative parts of the Anglican movement.

In an attempt at a compromise, the meeting of primates at Lambeth Palace also announced a commission to examine the divisions caused by the issue of homosexuality. This is due to report back in a year's time.

Meanwhile, the most senior bishop in the US, Frank Griswold, has said he has no power to force Canon Robinson to step aside. Bishop Griswold went on to insist that he would go to the consecration next month unless there "was a Second Coming".

But the conservative American Anglican Council welcomed the Lambeth statement, which it said had given a "firm and direct warning" that the consecration should not go ahead. Archbishop-Williams has already warned that the new Bishop Robinson will not be licensed to work in Britain.

Earlier this year openly gay priest Canon Jeffrey John withdrew as the new Bishop of Reading after a huge row.

The year-long commission on Anglicanism's deep divisions over homosexuality should, in theory, buy time.

But the statement issued after the two-day crisis meeting has angered both liberals, who believe the Church should support gay clergy, and conservatives who say that any diocese appointing a gay bishop should be expelled.

Some parts of the 70 millionstrong worldwide communion, especially in Africa, are strongly opposed to gay clergy and have threatened to break with the rest of the Church.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in