No Gay Vicars in the C of E!

Below are emails I sent and recieved from Rowan Williams last month
- the Archbishop of Canterbury and as such the head of the Church of
England.

This is one of two correspondences I've had with him regarding
homosexuality and the C of E and to be fair he has always had the
courtesy to answer even if I still believe that he lacks the balls
to do what he should.

Dear Rowan
I was concerned to read your recent comments regarding gay priests
who register a civil union. I believe that history will record brave
men who have the courage to stand up to bigotry and injustice rather
that allow historical injustices to be repeated time and time again.
I feel sure that you have the courage and deep down belief that the
Anglican Church's stance on homosexuality must and should be reformed.
Sometimes doing the 'right' thing is not easy and certainly not popular
but then as an Archbishop you role is not that of a populist politician
or simply to pander to the outdated and wholly injust dogma of those
within the Church who oppose reform.

Have faith, be brave and be that person who history will remember
for all the right reasons. And don't forget, Jesus too had a
'beloved disciple'.

Best wishes and have a great Christmas
(my full name deleted for this post)

Response:

Dear ,

I'm not quite sure which recent comments you may have been reading
about gay clergy, but I just wanted to say a couple of things in
response, with apologies if I have caused hurt. First, there is
in existence a policy and discipline about clergy entering into
active same-sex relationships which I don't have the authority to
overturn. Any change would have to come from the development of a
new consensus, and this is not likely to happen quickly, given that
there is a real continuing debate about the rightness of how we have
traditionally read the Bible on this subject. Second, I think there
is a difference between a policy about how clergy are expected to behave
and the question of how homosexual people are to be viewed and treated;
even if people support the current discipline, they have no excuse for
bigotry, let alone violence against homosexual people, and I have been
trying to get this principle agreed and upheld by all our church
(not with great success,I have to say).

I don't know if this will help at all, but I wanted to clarify where
the Church of England stands. One again, I'm really sorry if I have
caused offence.

Best wishes for the season, and every blessing,

Rowan.

> =============================================================
> Any views or opinions presented within this e-mail are solely
> those of the author and do not necessarily represent those
> of the Church in Wales unless otherwise specifically stated.
> =============================================================
> Barn y awdur ei hun yw unrhyw farn a fynegir yn yr e-bost hwn,
> ac nid yw, o angenrheidrwydd, yn cynrychioli barn yr Eglwys
> yng Nghymru, oni ddynodir hynny'n bendant.

My Comment:
He strikes me as a genuine and decent man who's hands are (or at least
in his belief) tied by the politics of the church. But as Archbishop
surely he has an obligation to act and this consensus he talks about
should not take priority over what is right. His argument smacks too
much of Pope Pius XII who sacrificed the holocaust victims (including
the much forgotten about pink triangle victims) using the same
'greater good' principle.