TUTU SLAMS “GAY OBSESSED” ANGLICANS

Speaking to the BBC World Service, Archbishop Desmond Tutu has again slammed conservative Anglicans who, he says, are obsessed by gays instead of tackling vital African issues like HIV/AIDS and human rights.

In the interview, he described the Anglican Church’s ongoing internal fighting over gay priests and same-sex marriage – which is threatening to split its global unity – as “an extraordinary obsession”.

“We’ve, it seems to me, been fiddling whilst as it were our Rome was burning. At a time when our continent has been groaning under the burden of HIV/Aids, of corruption,” he told the BBC.

“There are so many issues crying out for concern and application by the church of its resources, and here we are, I mean, with this kind of extraordinary obsession,” he said.

Tutu also expressed his disappointment over the lack of a strong and critical response by African leaders and the church to the human rights and political crisis in Zimbabwe.

The 76 year old Tutu has long been a vocal supporter of gay and lesbian rights.