Jiggysaw
August 06, 2003, 05:56
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U.S. Episcopal Church Backs First Openly Gay Bishop
Tue August 5, 2003 09:26 PM ET
By Sarah Tippit
MINNEAPOLIS (Reuters) - U.S. Episcopalian bishops voted on Tuesday to install the church's first openly gay bishop, triggering a protest by conservative opponents who have threatened to split the global Anglican denomination.
After an 11th-hour delay on Monday prompted by allegations of sexual misconduct against New Hampshire bishop-elect Gene Robinson, church leaders cleared him and 62 of the 107 bishops voted to approve his election. Forty-five voted against.
Conservative Anglicans, representing more than one-quarter of the global 77-million-member denomination, issued a statement expressing regret at Robinson's installation and signed by church leaders from Southeast Asia, Africa and Latin America and followers from England, India and elsewhere.
"We expect that primates of the Communion will be meeting soon to consider what action to take. Dioceses and parishes in the United States who wish to remain loyal to the Anglican Communion will also be considering their position in the coming weeks," the statement from a group called the Anglican Mainstream said.
Several conservative bishops and delegates retired to a church across from the convention center and said they would plot strategy.
Thanking his supporters and pledging to work toward reconciliation, Robinson told reporters, "I am proud to be in a church which works to be a safe place for all of God's children."
The allegations that delayed Monday's vote by the bishops -- the last of three hurdles to Robinson's confirmation -- focused on a Vermont parishioner's charge that Robinson had sexually harassed him during a conference a few years ago.
Questions also arose about whether Robinson, a 56-year-old divorced father of two, bore responsibility for the pornographic links to a Web site for a group for troubled teen-agers he helped found.
"In both allegations it is my conclusion that there is no necessity to pursue further investigation and no reason on these grounds to prevent bishops of jurisdiction from going forward with their voting," Massachusetts Bishop Gordon Scruton, who led the inquiry, told the bishops.
TOUCHING NONSEXUAL
Scruton said after an interview with parishioner David Lewis that his description of the touching showed it was nonsexual and he declined to press his case.
As to the Web site for the group Outright, it was created four years after Robinson left the group.
New York Bishop Mark Sisk earlier described people attending the convention as suffering a combination of "shock, surprise and befuddlement" at the allegations.
Rev. David Anderson, head of the conservative American Anglican Council and a Robinson opponent, denied any last-minute conspiracy to undermine Robinson's candidacy.
Conservatives in the 2.3-million-member U.S. church have threatened a split over either Robinson's installation or another proposal to allow clergy to bless same-sex marriages.
The rift also extends to divisions within the 77-million-member Anglican Communion, which led to last month's withdrawal in Britain of gay Canon Jeffrey John as bishop.
Several bishops spoke in support of Robinson, with Thomas Shaw of Massachusetts declaring that his consecration would bring in new, youthful members: "We have here a wonderful evangelistic tool to strengthen the life of the church."
Others spoke of the impact on the wider church, and about the authority of the Bible in the matter of homosexuality.
"We have been and are willing to remain in dialogue and communion with you so long as you are willing to remain with us. However if you break from the rest of the Anglican Communion we will not follow you," Florida Bishop John Howe said.
Rarely has the church's general convention rejected an elected bishop, with only nine candidates failing to gain approval since the 18th century, the last in 1934.
Church liberals have questioned the seriousness of the threats of a schism, noting conservatives failed to follow through after objecting to the mid-1970s decision to ordain women.
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U.S. Episcopal Church Backs First Openly Gay Bishop
Tue August 5, 2003 09:26 PM ET
By Sarah Tippit
MINNEAPOLIS (Reuters) - U.S. Episcopalian bishops voted on Tuesday to install the church's first openly gay bishop, triggering a protest by conservative opponents who have threatened to split the global Anglican denomination.
After an 11th-hour delay on Monday prompted by allegations of sexual misconduct against New Hampshire bishop-elect Gene Robinson, church leaders cleared him and 62 of the 107 bishops voted to approve his election. Forty-five voted against.
Conservative Anglicans, representing more than one-quarter of the global 77-million-member denomination, issued a statement expressing regret at Robinson's installation and signed by church leaders from Southeast Asia, Africa and Latin America and followers from England, India and elsewhere.
"We expect that primates of the Communion will be meeting soon to consider what action to take. Dioceses and parishes in the United States who wish to remain loyal to the Anglican Communion will also be considering their position in the coming weeks," the statement from a group called the Anglican Mainstream said.
Several conservative bishops and delegates retired to a church across from the convention center and said they would plot strategy.
Thanking his supporters and pledging to work toward reconciliation, Robinson told reporters, "I am proud to be in a church which works to be a safe place for all of God's children."
The allegations that delayed Monday's vote by the bishops -- the last of three hurdles to Robinson's confirmation -- focused on a Vermont parishioner's charge that Robinson had sexually harassed him during a conference a few years ago.
Questions also arose about whether Robinson, a 56-year-old divorced father of two, bore responsibility for the pornographic links to a Web site for a group for troubled teen-agers he helped found.
"In both allegations it is my conclusion that there is no necessity to pursue further investigation and no reason on these grounds to prevent bishops of jurisdiction from going forward with their voting," Massachusetts Bishop Gordon Scruton, who led the inquiry, told the bishops.
TOUCHING NONSEXUAL
Scruton said after an interview with parishioner David Lewis that his description of the touching showed it was nonsexual and he declined to press his case.
As to the Web site for the group Outright, it was created four years after Robinson left the group.
New York Bishop Mark Sisk earlier described people attending the convention as suffering a combination of "shock, surprise and befuddlement" at the allegations.
Rev. David Anderson, head of the conservative American Anglican Council and a Robinson opponent, denied any last-minute conspiracy to undermine Robinson's candidacy.
Conservatives in the 2.3-million-member U.S. church have threatened a split over either Robinson's installation or another proposal to allow clergy to bless same-sex marriages.
The rift also extends to divisions within the 77-million-member Anglican Communion, which led to last month's withdrawal in Britain of gay Canon Jeffrey John as bishop.
Several bishops spoke in support of Robinson, with Thomas Shaw of Massachusetts declaring that his consecration would bring in new, youthful members: "We have here a wonderful evangelistic tool to strengthen the life of the church."
Others spoke of the impact on the wider church, and about the authority of the Bible in the matter of homosexuality.
"We have been and are willing to remain in dialogue and communion with you so long as you are willing to remain with us. However if you break from the rest of the Anglican Communion we will not follow you," Florida Bishop John Howe said.
Rarely has the church's general convention rejected an elected bishop, with only nine candidates failing to gain approval since the 18th century, the last in 1934.
Church liberals have questioned the seriousness of the threats of a schism, noting conservatives failed to follow through after objecting to the mid-1970s decision to ordain women.
selengkapnya bisa di cek disini
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=KDEDSC4R4VTCMCRBAE0CF EY?type=topNews&storyID=3226190
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=KDEDSC4R4VTCMCRBAE0CF EY?type=topNews&storyID=3226190