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Gay bishops are OK if they remain celibate: Archbishop of Canterbury | Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams has said that he has 'no problem' with gay people being bishops
as long as they remain celibate. Dr Rowan signalled his personal support for the
consecration of gay bishops in the Church of England. However, he said he would
never endorse bishops in active homosexual relationships because of tradition
and historical 'standards' that require gay clergy to remain celibate. "To put
it very simply, there's no problem about a gay person who's a bishop. It's about
the fact that there are traditionally, historically, standards that the clergy
are expected to observe. So there's always a question about the personal life
of the clergy'" the Daily Mail quoted him as saying. His comments made in an
interview
with The Times, sparked accusations from equality campaigners that he was putting
Church unity above the rights of gay and lesbian people. He also risks deepening
divisions within the Church of England and the wider Anglican Communion. Liberals
are likely to be angered by the Archbishop's insistence that celibacy must be
compulsory for homosexual clergy but not for heterosexuals. Conservatives would
argue his stance puts him at odds with church teaching. Human rights campaigner
Peter Tatchell told the newspaper that the Archbishop was being inconsistent.
"Yet again, Rowan is sitting on the fence regarding gay clergy...I don't know
how Rowan sleeps at night. "Before he became Archbishop of Canterbury, he
supported
gay inclusion and equality. Now he victimises gay clergy like Jeffrey John and
goes out of his way to accommodate some of the most hateful Christian homophobes
in the world. "In his eyes, Church unity is more important than the human rights
of lesbian and gay people," Peter said.
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