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)
