The first openly
gay Episcopal bishop said Friday he believes that the
wider Anglican Church will eventually embrace gays, though
perhaps not in his lifetime.
"We learned that with people of color, we have
learned that with women, and now we are learning that
about gay and lesbian people." said the Right Reverend
Gene Robinson, whose promotion to bishop of New
Hampshire caused a bitter rift among the world's Anglicans.
Robinson was visiting the United Kingdom to
join celebrations of the 10th anniversary of Changing
Attitude, a group that promotes the acceptance of gay
clergy. Robinson is not permitted to preach or preside
at any Church of England services during his visit.
He met privately Thursday with Archbishop of
Canterbury Rowan Williams, who is struggling to hold
the Anglican Communion together despite vehement and
apparently irreconcilable differences over whether gays
should serve as priests and bishops. Conservatives believe
that is contrary to the Bible and have condemned moves
by Anglicans in the United States and Canada to affirm
faithful same-sex relationships.
The Episcopal Church is the U.S. province of the
77 million-member Anglican Communion.
Robinson described the meeting as "cordial,"
while Williams's office said it was "friendly but
candid." Neither side has disclosed the substance of
their discussions. "I believe that the acceptance of
gay and lesbian people into the life of the church is
something that is going to happen," Robinson said in an
interview with British Broadcasting Corp. radio. "It
may not happen in my lifetime, but that is all right.
It will happen in God's own time.
"What I will say in the short run is that no one
is asking any other province of the Anglican Communion
to raise up gay and lesbian people and to ordain them
as priests or consecrate them as bishops," he said.
"We are only asking that we be allowed to do this in our own
context, which is admittedly different to that of most
of the world."
Anglicans disagree on other issues, including
abortion, stem-cell research, and the war in Iraq, he
said. "So the question is, Can we still live together
and hold on to one another while we resolve this
issue?" Robinson said. (AP)