Post by IvoryRain on Nov 6, 2003 1:36:36 GMT -5
Bishops Publish Timely Study on Sexuality
Wed November 5, 2003 10:40 AM ET
By Alexandra Hudson
LONDON (Reuters) - Four Church of England bishops published a timely study guide on Tuesday to help Anglicans understand the debate raging on sexuality and the Church.
The aim, said its authors, was to ensure that opponents stopped caricaturing each other in the bitter dispute that threatens to split the Anglican church in two. The bishops started preparing the guide in 1999 but its publication comes after consecration of the first openly gay bishop, Canon Gene Robinson, in the United States on Sunday.
Bishop of Oxford Dr Richard Harries described the guide as an educational tool and said the authors' role was to help the Church be better informed.
The guide did not set out to change the Church of England's existing position as published in its 1991 statement, Issues in Human Sexuality, but aimed to present the range of views, Harries said.
The 1991 document said heterosexual marriage was the proper context for sexual activity, but gay people were of equal value and should not be excluded from the Anglican Church, although gay clergy should remain celibate.
Harries himself appointed an openly gay man, Canon Geoffrey John, as Bishop of Reading in June 2003, but Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams later persuaded John to step down.
"One of the worst features of the debate has been the caricaturing of other people's positions," Harries said.
Bishop of Winchester Michael Scott-Joynt said: "There is no saying in which direction people will move as they study the document more thoroughly."
He said he hoped that it would be read by people throughout the world.
Traditionalist Anglican leaders in Australia, Africa and America have condemned Robinson's consecration because of his sexuality.
The new document calls on the Church to work to combat homophobia and homophobic violence and acknowledges that homosexuals have encountered hostility from the Church in the past.
Archbishop of Canterbury Williams, who has been battling to keep the world's 70 million Anglicans together since Robinson's consecration, said "I hope that this report will help us to develop our understanding and to address the challenges that we still face."
Wed November 5, 2003 10:40 AM ET
By Alexandra Hudson
LONDON (Reuters) - Four Church of England bishops published a timely study guide on Tuesday to help Anglicans understand the debate raging on sexuality and the Church.
The aim, said its authors, was to ensure that opponents stopped caricaturing each other in the bitter dispute that threatens to split the Anglican church in two. The bishops started preparing the guide in 1999 but its publication comes after consecration of the first openly gay bishop, Canon Gene Robinson, in the United States on Sunday.
Bishop of Oxford Dr Richard Harries described the guide as an educational tool and said the authors' role was to help the Church be better informed.
The guide did not set out to change the Church of England's existing position as published in its 1991 statement, Issues in Human Sexuality, but aimed to present the range of views, Harries said.
The 1991 document said heterosexual marriage was the proper context for sexual activity, but gay people were of equal value and should not be excluded from the Anglican Church, although gay clergy should remain celibate.
Harries himself appointed an openly gay man, Canon Geoffrey John, as Bishop of Reading in June 2003, but Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams later persuaded John to step down.
"One of the worst features of the debate has been the caricaturing of other people's positions," Harries said.
Bishop of Winchester Michael Scott-Joynt said: "There is no saying in which direction people will move as they study the document more thoroughly."
He said he hoped that it would be read by people throughout the world.
Traditionalist Anglican leaders in Australia, Africa and America have condemned Robinson's consecration because of his sexuality.
The new document calls on the Church to work to combat homophobia and homophobic violence and acknowledges that homosexuals have encountered hostility from the Church in the past.
Archbishop of Canterbury Williams, who has been battling to keep the world's 70 million Anglicans together since Robinson's consecration, said "I hope that this report will help us to develop our understanding and to address the challenges that we still face."