Archbishop prays for miracle in gay rights row, says homosexuality not a 'disease,' Bishop Robinson accuses him of "dehumanising gays"

Note: These UK newspapers should not be read as accurate or unbiased sources of information in this matter.

Tense times on the steamy streets of New Orleans. On the TV screens, the evening weather reports bring news of a gathering tropical storm in the Gulf of New Orleans and the population shivers at the thought of a repeat of the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. Behind closed doors in the private suites and meeting rooms of the city's InterContinental hotel, a very different storm is gathering. 

Just a short walk from the muddy waters of the Mississippi, the Anglican bishops of the United States have gathered to decide whether they will provoke the biggest schism in the Church of England since its foundation by Henry VIII. At issue is the role of gays in the Anglican Communion and the status of Gene Robinson, a homosexual father of two daughters who was elevated three years ago to become the Bishop of New Hampshire. The appointment of Bishop Robinson, who lives openly with another man, his partner, Mark Andrews, is viewed as a slap in the face by conservative members of the American church and by the increasingly vocal and powerful Asian and African Anglican congregations, who see homosexuality as an affront to the will of God.

On Tuesday, the American bishops, the majority of whom are liberals, are expected to vote to support a greater role for gays and lesbians in the Church, both with regard to the creation of new bishops and the blessing of same-sex relationships. Unless they can be persuaded otherwise, it seems certain the move will irrevocably split the Church, ending the Anglican Communion and creating an alternative alliance between Africa and conservatives in the US. Into this increasingly hot and humid atmosphere, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, arrived for a frenetic round of last-minute shuttle diplomacy in a series of private meetings. See Archbishop prays for miracle in gay rights row
Telegraph.co.uk Homosexuality not a 'disease', says Archbishop @ Telegraph.co.uk, United Kingdom

The Archbishop of Canterbury's hopes of averting schism in the worldwide Anglican Church are foundering after he was accused of dehumanising gays by the openly homosexual bishop Gene Robinson. 

Dr Rowan Williams is holding two days of crisis talks in New Orleans in an eleventh-hour effort to persuade the bishops of the American branch of Anglicanism to reverse their pro-gay agenda. But insiders said that a number of the liberal bishops were in no mood to capitulate, and any compromise that they might eventually accept was unlikely to placate conservatives who want them ousted. Documents leaked to the Daily Telegraph suggest that they may agree an ambiguous form of words that will fall far short of the unequivocal reassurances demanded of them, leaving Anglicanism on the brink of collapse Insiders in the often emotive private meeting in a New Orleans hotel said that Dr Williams rapped the Americans over the knuckles for triggering the crisis by consecrating Gene Robinson as Bishop of New Hampshire in 2003.

But Bishop Robinson, who is attending the six-day House of Bishops meeting with his partner Mark Andrews, said that though he had always publicly supported Dr Williams, he now "had to tell the truth". According to witnesses, he said that for Dr Williams to present the situation as a choice between fidelity to gays and fidelity to the Communion "is one of the most dehumanising things I have heard in a long time" and he wanted no part of it. Another liberal, the Bishop of Massachussetts, the Rt Rev Thomas Shaw, also criticised the Archbishop for failing to honour the American Church's "prophetic discernment" in consecrating Bishop Robinson. One insider said: "The speeches we heard suggested that the tide was running heavily in the direction of saying to the Archbishop, thank you for your concern but we have made up our minds and we are going forward." See Archbishop accused of 'dehumanizing gays'  @ Telegraph.co.uk, United Kingdom -

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, has said that homosexuality is not a "disease" on the eve of a crucial decision that could split the Anglican Church worldwide. Dr Williams's support for gays will fuel anger among conservative Church members who will see his message of support as direct challenge to their deeply held view that homosexuality is a sin.In his address to a key -gathering of 159 American bishops in New Orleans, the Archbishop insisted: "I do not assume that homosexual inclination is a disease."  

Warning that "violence against gay and lesbian people is inexcusable," he added: "Gay and lesbian people have a place in the Church as do all the baptised." But his message of support for homosexual rights will be seen by religious conservatives as confirmation that he has taken sides against them and that they are viewed as the rebels in the Anglican Church. Homosexuality not a 'disease', says Archbishop @ Telegraph.co.uk, United Kingdom -

US Episcopals to respond on gay issue next week
Reuters South Africa, South Africa