Gay bishop withdraws
The Right Reverend Gene Robinson, recently elected Bishop of New Hampshire, has pulled out of a debate on homosexuality in the Church, which was due to be held at The Oxford Union on Thursday 11th March.
Bishop Robinson, who is openly gay and lives with his long-term male partner, would have been proposing the motion "This House believes a gay lifestyle should be no bar to becoming a bishop." The event had provoked a media scrum, with publications from around the world attempting to gain access to the Bishop.
The Bishop's withdrawal comes at a time when the issues of homosexuality and the church have become particularly pertinent, as the furore over gay marriages continues to rack episcopal circles in the US, and it is thought that this is one of the major factors behind Bishop Robinson's decision.
In a statement, the Bishop said his appearance "would not be in the best interests of the Anglican Communion at this delicate moment in its history."
Speculation is also rife that the Bishop's withdrawal is the result of intervention from more senior figures, anxious to calm internal rifts within the Church.
Reverend Richard Kirker, general secretary of the Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement, who was due to speak at the same debate, articulated the suspicions that Bishop Robinson had withdrawn on the orders of those senior to him, saying that it was a shame that "he finds himself forced into silence."
Union President Edward Tomlinson expressed similar feelings, saying: "It has come as a great blow that Bishop Robinson will no longer be addressing the Oxford Union as part of the debate here on 11th March. From our point of view, it is a shame that the Archbishop's newly appointed commission should act as a gagging order, rather than as a catalyst for discussion."
He added: "As the President of the most famous debating society in the world, founded on the abiding principle of freedom of speech, and also as a committed Anglican, I look forward to the day when free discussion of this matter can and does take place."
3rd Apr 2004