Posted on 11/06/2005 6:06:01 PM PST by sionnsar
The first openly gay Anglican bishop, Gene Robinson, has called for the Roman Catholic church's attitude to homosexuals to be confronted.
The Bishop of New Hampshire said the Vatican's ban on ordaining gay men was "vile", in a speech in London.
He received a standing ovation after his speech, in which he spoke of how he had faced prejudice in his role.
Some Anglican conservatives had called for the St-Martin-in-the-Fields church venue to be changed to a secular one. Bishop Robinson said: "We are seeing so many Roman Catholics joining the church.
"Pope Ratzinger may be the best thing that ever happened to the Episcopal Church."
He continued: "I find it so vile that they think they are going to end the child abuse scandal by throwing out homosexuals from seminaries.
"It is an act of violence that needs to be confronted."
His speech at St-Martin-in-the-Fields, in Trafalgar Square, was part of the 10th anniversary of the gay rights group Changing Attitude.
He had been asked not wear his full vestments or take part in the religious service before addressing the audience from a lectern rather than the pulpit.
"I'm here to encourage you to talk about God," he said.
"I am not here to talk about a social agenda. I am not here to grind any axes, I am here to do the thing that Christians do, that is to witness to the good of God."
'Full inclusion'
The London Diocesan Evangelical Fellowship, which includes senior lay and clergy members, had urged the Archbishop of Canterbury to move the Bishop's talk to a secular venue to prevent "damaged relations" between sections of the church.
The Bishop said his home state in the US was "the one place in the world where I am not the gay bishop - I'm just the bishop... it is a wonderful feeling".
He said homosexuals would eventually be fully welcomed in the church but warned that it may take some time.
"This is going to end with our full inclusion," he said. "We won't live to see it, but it's going to happen."
Church rift
On Thursday the New Hampshire bishop met Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, and said he wanted to help heal the rift caused by his consecration, but would not give up his post.
His conscecration two years ago attracted widespread criticism from the more conservative African and Asian sections of the church.
Changing Attitude is an organisation which calls for the Anglican Church to "fully accept, welcome and offer equality of opportunity to lesbian, gay and bisexual people".
He is due to address a congregation in Stockport later on Sunday.
Traditional Anglican ping, continued in memory of its founder Arlin Adams. To refer to Pope Benedict as "Pope Ratzinger" is an immature insult and even Robinson should know better, especially when you consider that Robinson is possibly the WORST thing that has ever happened to the Anglican Communion.
Gene, shut the hell up...and go away.
I am Catholic, but I am very interested in what is happening to the Anglicans, I believe that if the left succeeds in destroying the Anglican Communion, they will employ the same techniques on the Catholic Church.
That's a fair point - there's so much commonality between us and the Anglicans that there's a likely follow-on strategy if the leftists are able to attack them with success.
Your words are true. Perhaps we should pack all the lefties to Saudia -- kill two birds with one stone.
Someone is right and someone is wrong.
We all fall short of the Christian ideal, but don't try to change or make sinners out of others in order to "justify" my shortcomings.
Vicky Robinson should just do the right thing and admit he is a pagan, and the best thing liberal "Catholics" can do is join his "church" and leave us alone.
Our conservative Anglican brethren are more than welcome in the Catholic Church as Anglicans in Union with Rome.
He got a standing ovation, eh? But then, his oral skills have made many stand up. A 'church' that endorses his behavior, and allows him to speak for it, is as sick as he. Lost. They're just lost.
Robinson can't forget that Cardinal Ratzinger sent a supportive message to the Anlglicans meeting in Dallas. I am sure that he has received support from gay Catholic priests, who are shaking in their boots with fear that their careers in the Church have reached a dead-end.
This animal farm lingo reveals the true sociopathic nature of the gay ECUSA agenda.
The cultural assault by ECUSA gay clergy will continue until there is an external need to quit. It will take some natural or political disaster to provide the incentive for the gays to back down. The status quo provides cover for the degenerates. All are too timid and cautious to upset the apple cart.
I don't know i I've ever been prouder to be a papist. Thanks Vicky Gene.
You can't compare the disaster in the ECUSA with the internal politics of the Roman church. We have seen the ECUSA dwindle in numbers due to bad faith clergy from the early 1970's.
The ECUSA is a grassroots organization without a strong administrative center like the vatican. When the common culture tanked in the 1960's, the ECUSA lost its moorings and began grabbing at straws. They doled out millions of dollars to radial organizations (the black panthers), admitted female and gay students to the seminaries, and adopted a secular legal framework of internal laws for dealing with pure heresies such as the ordination of gay priests.
In 1996, the year long study of what to do about the ordination of the first gay priest resulted in a concensus of the US bishops that no legal framework was in place to deal with this subject therefore, no action should be taken.
As a fish rots from the head - so did the ECUSA.
I was not comparing Catholics and Anglicans in that sense. I was suggesting that the left will attack Catholicism using the "model" they developed when they destroyed the Episcopalians.
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.