Posted on 11/04/2003 8:03:54 PM PST by ahadams2
Gomez challenges U.S. church Risks funding over gay bishop
By VANESSA C. ROLLE Guardian Staff Reporter
The majority of Anglicans are willing to put finances on the line rather than accept to consecration of a homosexual American bishop, vows Archbishop Drexel Gomez.
The church's Provinces of the Global South, he said Monday, are prepared to suffer the consequences should the American church pull its significant financial support over the debate.
"America does make the largest contribution to the world-wide Anglican Communion. That's a matter of fact," said Bishop Gomez. "As much as we need the money, the gospel must come first. We are prepared to suffer. Money cannot be the overriding factor in the proclamation of the gospel."
He also said priests who participated in the consecration of openly homosexual Bishop Gene Robinson have been banned from presiding in any regional dioceses.
Bishop Gomez announced the ban at a press conference at the local Anglican Church headquarters on Sands Road on Monday.
He said he feared for the future of Anglicanism, and said Anglicanism in America is extremely lacking in strong theology.
"In this diocese, I will not permit any bishop who took part in the consecration on Sunday – I will not permit any of them to function in this diocese. If they visit here then they can attend church but I will not allow them to function at the altar," he said.
He also said the action of the Episcopal church had "greatly impaired" the communion.
On behalf of the Primates of the Global South, Bishop Gomez urged the bishop of Canterbury to urgently put forth a redeeming mechanism to guarantee adequate provision of Episcopal oversight for parishes and clergy within the Episcopal Church and the Canadian diocese of New Westminster.
The Primates of the Global South represent some 50 million of the 80 million world-wide Anglican membership, he said, and though there is not a diminishing membership in the United States, there are clear indications of a mass exodus from various churches.
The action taken by Episcopalians on Sunday, he said, creates barriers for relationships with each other, for ecumenical barriers, and for interfaith dialogues with other denominations.
The congregations, he said, are left in a state of confusion as opposing views of homosexuality which now confront the church cannot both be the truth, he said.
A commission will meet in January to examine ways in which the Anglican Communion could be preserved without causing a rupture in the fabric of the church community, Bishop Gomez said.
The committee has been given nine months to reach a deal with theological issues related to unity and legal issues, he said.
"This church in America has made a break in the teaching," he said, "They have accepted homosexual practice as a legitimate lifestyle and in fairness to them, one must say that their formal position is that homosexual practice is engaged upon by adults who are in a covenanted relationship – a relationship where they have committed to remain faithful and true to one another – they have accepted that as legitimate," Bishop Gomez said.
"Our point of view is that we consider it illegitimate in terms of the teaching of the Bible and the historic teaching of the church," he said.
He said the coinsecration of Bishop Robinson was utterly contrary to the clear teachings of the Bible, the moral order and the order of procreation designed by God.
The 38 provinces of the Anglican Communion, he said, are free to make their own rules and regulations under the guise of autonomy, but they are not free to change the teachings that are Bible-based.
Traditionally, the church has trumpeted a resounding "no" to the consecration of homosexuals to lead the flock. This rings true in the case of Bishop Gene Robinson – who divorced his wife, separating himself from his children, and lives as a non-celibate homosexual with his partner of 14 years.
"The overwhelming majority of Primates of the Global South cannot and will not recognise the office or ministry of Canon Gene Robinson as bishop. We deplore those bishops who have taken part in the consecration which has now divided the Church in violation of their obligation to guard the faith and unity of the church," Bishop Gomez said.
"Nowhere in the Bible is the subject of homosexuality discussed in the abstract. The Bible deals with homosexual acts and makes it clear that homosexual acts are contrary to God's pattern for procreation, clearly enunciated in the book of Genesis, reaffirmed by Jesus and continually proclaimed by the Church from the very beginning."
He said the Anglican Church had reached a crossroads where it had to decide how it was going to deal with two different sets of teachings so different that they could be described as being " diametrically opposed to one another."
Bishop Gomez said that he is not optimistic that the church in America would change, and fears that Anglicanism is jeopardy in both the United States and Canada unless there is a fundamental change in teachings and practices.
"What will emerge in North America will be a watered-down version of Anglicanism that will eventually phase out unless there is some change," he said.
"I hope I am proved wrong," he said.
Forty per cent of the bishops in the USA were against the consecration of the Bishop Robinson, he said.
"What happened yesterday was a formal break from the teaching of the church. Up to that point it had been a theological discussion," he said. "The teachings of the church in the United States are different from the teachings in the rest of the Communion."
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.