No Room For Gays

[apollos]

it seems there is no place for a gay person in the Anglican church.

source: BBC

Gay priest 'forced to resign'

Canon Jeffrey John says he is now celibate
Friends of the gay priest who resigned from the post of Bishop-elect of Reading, say he was forced to step down.

Canon Jeffrey John announced on Sunday he would be withdrawing his acceptance of the post following the row within the Anglican Church about his appointment.

He said he made the decision because of the "damage" his consecration might cause to the "unity of the Church".

But his colleague the Dean of Southwark Colin Slee said Dr John would never have stepped down under his own initiative.

He said he had seen the priest after a six-hour meeting at Lambeth Palace when Dr John had told him he would withdraw his acceptance if asked to.

Mr Slee said Dr John's departure was a "devastating blow" for Anglicans who wanted a more progressive and inclusive Church, according to BBC religious affairs correspondent Robert Pigott.

He said the Church and liberals must now organise to fight for a more inclusive Church.

Tribute paid

Earlier the Archbishop of Canterbury called for reflection as he paid tribute to the "dignity and forbearance" Dr John had shown "often under the most intrusive and distasteful personal scrutiny".

But he acknowledged there would have been an "obvious problem with the consecration of a bishop whose ministry would not be readily received by a significant proportion of Christians in England and elsewhere."


Dr Williams praised the priest for his "dignity"
The row had been expected to dominate this week's meeting of the General Synod, the Church's parliament.

Dr Williams, who had not objected to Dr John's appointment, made it clear homosexuals "are full and welcome members of the Church".

"This has been a time of open and painful confrontation, in which some of our bonds of mutual trust have been severely strained".

But he said some of the opposition to the appointment had been "very unsavoury indeed" and showed the level of "foolish and hurtful prejudice in our society is still uncomfortably high".

A number of letters had displayed "a shocking level of ignorance and hatred towards homosexual people" he said.

Dr John had been due to be consecrated in October.

He has been in a relationship with a man for 27 years, but says he is now celibate.

Opinion divided

Joel Edwards, of The Evangelical Alliance, welcomed the news saying this was "definitely in the interests of the church."

But gay rights campaigner Peter Tatchell warned: "Having scored this victory, anti-gay evangelists are looking to step up their campaign against gay people in the church."

Robert Pigott said the victory for traditionalists within the Anglican Church might only be short-lived as the United States may make the blessing gay relationships official policy within the next few weeks and confirm the election of an actively homosexual bishop.

Dr John's announcement came after the former Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr George Carey, said he had ordained two bishops he "suspected" were gay in the 1990s but he had "never knowingly ordained a practising homosexual".

homophobia of society reflected in the church