US EPISCOPAL LEADER SPEAKS ON GAY BISHOPS

The female head of the Episcopal Church (the American branch of the global Anglican body), Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, has spoken out about the divisive issue of gay bishops in the Anglican Church.

Speaking in an interview with BBC radio on Tuesday, Schori said that there more gay bishops in the Church other than Gene Robinson.

The consecration of the openly gay Robinson as Bishop of New Hampshire in 2003 has been blamed for initiating the split within the global Anglican Church.

“He is certainly not alone in being a gay bishop; he’s certainly not alone in being a gay partnered bishop,” Schori said, explaining that “He is alone in being the only gay partnered bishop who’s open about that status.”

Schori said that she believed that the Episcopal Church has been unfairly targeted for its progressive approach to homosexuality, adding that when it came to blessing same-sex unions there more such ceremonies taking place within the Church of England than in the US.

Episcopal leaders in the US made a commitment to “halt” the ordination of gay clergy last year September in a bid to avert a split between liberal and conservative dioceses over the issue.