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ANGLICAN BISHOP DISASSOCIATES FROM VISIT OF GENE ROBINSON TO THE UK AND SCOTLAND
This letter was sent to the Scottish Press,the Church Times and the Church of England Newspaper in light of the news that Gene Robinson will be preaching and presiding at Glasgow Cathedral on Sunday.
July 28, 2008
The Anglican Bishop of Aberdeen and Orkney, the Rt Revd Robert Gillies, has disassociated himself from the forthcoming visit to the UK and Scotland of the actively gay Bishop of New Hampshire, in the USA.
Dr Gillies says:
"Gene Robinson will be in the UK both before, and in Scotland during and after, the Lambeth Conference of Anglican Bishops. Both because of who he is, and what he stands for, his visits are likely to attract media attention. It will be sad if this detracts from much of the good work that Bishops of the Anglican Church from around the world will be seeking to achieve with the Archbishop of Canterbury at the Lambeth Conference."
Dr Gillies continues,
"One historic and continuing function of a Bishop is to maintain the unity of the Church. Sadly Gene's consecration as a Bishop, and what has followed as a consequence of it, has proven to be deeply divisive."
He adds,
"I am saddened Gene feels the need to have accepted invitations to come to the UK risking as he does so, further division in the Church. Because I fundamentally disagree with his position as a Bishop, I am left with little option other than to dissociate myself formally from his visit and to express my extreme sadness at the upset his visit will cause across all Christian traditions."
Dr Gillies was unavailable for further comment.
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