Episcopal Bishop Who Ordained Lesbian Dies at 73  | News | Advocate.com

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March 28, 2008
Episcopal Bishop Who Ordained Lesbian Dies at 73

Ronald H. Haines, the former bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington who ordained a lesbian priest and presided over the marriage of Vice President Al Gore's daughter, has died. He was 73.

Haines, who served as the bishop of Washington, D.C., from 1990 to 2000, died Friday from complications with cancer at his home in Lancaster, Pa., said Cheryl Daves Wilburn, special assistant to the bishop at the diocese.

Haines was an advocate for the ordination of women priests and defended gender equality in the church. Less than a year after becoming bishop he sparked protests by ordaining a lesbian, the Rev. Elizabeth L. Carl.

According to a 1992 article in The Washington Post, one of the bishop's most vocal critics was his wife, Mary, who was vice president of the National Organization of Episcopalians for Life. She even favored her husband's censure, which he narrowly avoided, at a national gathering of bishops.

Haines served in churches in New York and Rutherfordton, N.C., and was named deputy to the bishop of the Diocese of Western North Carolina in 1981.

In 1986 he was elected suffragan bishop of the Washington diocese, which includes D.C. and four Maryland counties.

In 1997 Haines presided over the wedding of Karenna Gore and New York physician Andrew Schiff at the Washington National Cathedral.

He retired in 2000 and returned to parish ministry in Pennsylvania. (AP) 

© 2008 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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