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Source:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7504472.stm
(With video)
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Protest disrupts bishop's sermon

Openly gay US bishop Gene Robinson was forced to halt a sermon at a London church after being heckled.

As Bishop Robinson began his sermon a member of the congregation repeatedly called him a "heretic" and said "repent, repent, repent".

He began his sermon by saying how sad it was that the Anglican Communion was tearing itself apart.

But he was stopped when the man in the congregation shouted that the schism was the bishop's fault.

The man's protest was followed by slow hand-clapping by members of the congregation, and Bishop Robinson halted his sermon while a hymn was sung and the protester was escorted from the church in Putney, south-west London.

The man was taken outside and left on a motorbike, but no further action was taken against him by police officers present.

Bishop Robinson resumed speaking shortly after the interruption, asking church members to "pray for that man".

Bishop Robinson went on to say: "This discussion of homosexuality we are having in the Church is not so significant because of what it says about homosexuality, but of what it says about God.

"When someone stands up and says homosexuality is an abomination, does that make you want to get to know God?"

Bishop Robinson emphasised that the congregation should reject fear.

He said: "I think God wants us to be bold, I think God wants us to take risks, I don't think God wants us to be afraid.

'Almost untenable'

"You know, whatever you think makes you unworthy, I don't think God wants to hear it any more."

"All you have to do is turn up and open up your heart."

Among those in the congregation was Health Minister Ben Bradshaw. Speaking afterwards, Mr Bradshaw said the sermon was excellent and inspirational.

"He is a very brave man speaking the truth," he added.

The end of the sermon was met with warm applause.

Bishop Robinson's address comes as the Anglican Communion gather for their 10-yearly Lambeth Conference in Canterbury.

His ordination as bishop of New Hampshire in 2003 split the Anglican Communion, and he has been excluded from the conference amid deep Anglican divisions over the issues of women bishops and homosexuality in the Church.

Earlier, he said "a mistake was made" in not inviting him to the conference, but he would do whatever he could to raise the issue of gay rights "from the fringe".

He said he would not stage any kind of protest, but would be in Canterbury during the conference simply to "preach the word of God".

Bishop Robinson also said the Archbishop of Canterbury was in an "almost untenable" position as he tries to retain unity in the Church.

Splinter movement

He said that despite Dr Rowan Williams's attempts to overcome deep divisions over the ordination of women and gay people, "no matter what he does he makes someone mad."

Anglican conservatives set up a splinter movement earlier this month, in rejection of the acceptance of gay bishops.

And last week the General Synod, the Church of England's ruling body, voted in favour of legislation aimed at introducing women bishops, a move which generated acrimony.

Some 1,300 clergy opposed to it had threatened to leave the Church if the safeguards they wanted were not agreed.

Bishop Robinson went public with his sexuality in 1980 and has since been in a 20-year relationship with partner Mark Andrew.

Source:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7474525.stm
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Bishops turning back on Lambeth
By Robert Pigott
BBC religious affairs correspondent

For a century the Lambeth Conference has been one of the events keeping intact this largest Protestant church grouping in the world.

Now, for the first time, and just when the Anglican Communion is most at risk of disintegration, almost a third of the bishops invited to attend have decided to boycott the meeting.

It is a blow to the Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams who wants to use the conference to heal the rift over sexuality which has driven the Communion to the brink of a permanent split.

The 250 bishops who have said they will stay away from the conference are attending what amounts to a rival meeting in Jerusalem.

They take a traditional view of biblical teaching on sexuality - that the Bible rules out active homosexuality.

The meeting - entitled Global Anglican Future Conference - is discussing what appears to be a blueprint for a separate communion.

The signs are that Gafcon will decide against an immediate split, but the boycott of Lambeth is an early sign of how much influence a powerful traditionalist lobby could have inside the Communion.

Most of the bishops staying away from Lambeth are from a few large churches, in countries such as Nigeria, Kenya and Uganda.

The decision by English bishops to join them is a big psychological boost.

"It's fantastic news", said Henry Orombi, Archbishop of Uganda.

"We are four thousand miles away from Lambeth, but they are right on the doorstep. This is a very powerful message that they can't ignore."

'Persecuting traditionalists'

The latest to join the boycott is the Bishop of Lewes, Wallace Benn.

He said he had written to the Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams to say he could not attend the meeting while liberal American bishops were on the guest-list.

Bishop Benn said the conference would present a false impression of harmony in the Communion.

He said he would feel hypocritical pretending to be on good terms with people he felt were distorting traditional Anglican beliefs about the Bible and homosexuality.

Bishop Benn also accused liberal American and Canadian bishops of persecuting clergy who wanted to stick to a traditionalist line.

"The reason I don't think I can go (to Lambeth) is that I can't pretend to have fellowship with people with whom I know there is broken fellowship, and sit down and take communion and have meals with as if nothing had happened, with people who are persecuting my friends in North America."

'Soft power'

The Bishop of Rochester, Michael Nazir-Ali, is the most senior Church of England figure to say he will not attend. He said in a statement that "those who have gone against church teaching should not attend representative Anglican gatherings".

Dr Nazir-Ali agreed that the Lambeth Conference could therefore be only the first of many meetings to which traditionalists refused to go - if liberal Americans continued to be invited.

The traditionalists meeting in Jerusalem have grown frustrated at the "soft power" of the Archbishop of Canterbury alone to choose who is invited to the Lambeth Conference.

The Archbishop of Sydney, Peter Jensen, is one of those who have said the time has come to turn the Communion from being a British Empire into more of a Commonwealth, and accept that leadership will also come from elsewhere.

Archbishop Jensen - who has turned down his invitation to Lambeth - said it was significant that so many bishops had proved willing to do the same.

He said: "It tells us that the Lambeth Conference is not as important as it once was."

Source:
http://www.towleroad.com/2008/07/vatican-officia.html
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Vatican Official Urges Anglican Bishops: Condemn Homosexuality

Walter Cardinal Kasper, president of the pontifical council for promoting christian unity, spoke at the Lambeth Conference in Canterbury, England yesterday and said the need for Catholics and Anglicans to be on the same page against gays is "sorely needed in the world today" and urged the more than 150 bishops gathered to condemn homosexuality:

Said Kasper: "This teaching is founded in the Old and New Testament and the fidelity to scripture and to Apostolic tradition is absolute. Homosexuality is a disordered behaviour. The activity must be condemned; the traditional approach to homosexuality is comprehensive ... A clear declaration about this theme must come from the Anglican Communion."

According to The Guardian, "Kasper was saddened that dialogue between the Anglican Communion and the Roman Catholic Church had been seriously compromised over the issues of women's ordination and homosexuality. These developments had also caused the Communion to enter into a period of dispute, he observed."

Added Kasper: "Many of you are troubled, deeply so, by the threat of fragmentation. In such a scenario, who will our dialogue partner be? How can we appropriately and honestly engage in conversations with those who share Catholic perspectives on the points currently in dispute, and who disagree with some developments within the Anglican Communion or particular provinces?"