Church clears the way for celibate gay bishops

Mon Jun 20, 2011 1:03 am » by **Demobe**

The Church of England is expected to confirm that openly gay clergy can be made bishops, if they are celibate.

Legal advice is due to be published as early as Monday saying homosexual clergy in civil partnerships can become bishops.

The move is in response to the Equality Act, which protects from discrimination on the grounds of sexuality.

But it risks deepening divisions over gay clergy, which threaten to split the Anglican Communion worldwide.

The legal advice is due to go to the General Synod next month.

Some liberals could be wary of any move which shows a difference in approach between homosexual and heterosexual people, while conservatives wish to avoid anything which is at odds with church teaching.

Canon Chris Sugden - a key critic of openly gay clergy - said if bishops were "faithful to the teaching of the Church" it was "unexceptionable".

He said Christian teaching "makes a distinction between inclination, orientation and attraction on one hand - and practice and behaviour on the other".

He said the problem over the last 10 years was that gay activists "take great exception to the distinction being made between same sex attraction and same sex behaviour".
'Hesitations'

read the rest and Audio :rtft:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-13831162

Mon Jun 20, 2011 1:11 am » by **Thedude69**

Divide and conquer.

I hear their death rattle...

Mon Jun 20, 2011 1:33 am » by **dlslith**

I'm pretty open minded, but I gotta draw the line here. The church promotes same sex relationships? Man/woman is written in the words they preach. Think, Sodom/Gommorrah. If I was to see a preacher of the faith, who was a same sex couple standing on the pulpit, talking and compromising the very thing that they teach and is written, I'd prolly call them out right there. I might be a moron at times, but I'm not an oxymoron. They would be

Mon Jun 20, 2011 1:48 am » by **dlslith**

Not a shot Demobe, but how does one define oneself as a celibate gay bishop anyway? Cause honestly I don't know. Plus, how's that possible?

Mon Jun 20, 2011 9:44 am » by **Mediasorcerer**

so if they dont actually bang there dongle up the victims date,there ok to be bishops?

uuuhh,weird,