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LAMBETH: Congolese Bishop Says Robinson "Causing Pain"
By Hans Zeiger in Canterbury
www.virtueonline.org
July 28, 2008
CANTERBURY -A bishop of the Anglican Church in the Congo spoke with VirtueOnline on Sunday about his personal opposition to homosexual ordination. The Rt. Rev. Sylvestre Bahati Bali-Busane, Bishop of the Diocese of Bakavu in the Congo , said that the Rt. Rev. Gene Robinson, the gay Bishop of New Hampshire, is "causing pain in the church."
Through an interpreter, Bishop Bahati said, "In my opinion, so many bishops are not here because of Gene Robinson. It would have been good to be forthright and also for Gene Robinson to resign. Most bishops are not happy with him continuing to be bishop in a church and he should have stepped down. That is my own opinion."
Hundreds of orthodox Anglican bishops, mostly from Africa, have stayed away from the Lambeth Conference, opting instead to attend the Global Anglican Future Conference in the Holy Land last month. Divisions in the Anglican Communion run deep.
Bishop Bahati reiterated his belief that Bishop Robinson is to blame for the schism. Robinson is "really causing pain in the church," said Bahati. "He should stop it completely. It would be very, very good to stop completely ordination of gay bishops and marriages, because it is evident that this is the biggest problem in the church at the moment."
Bahati then quoted from I Corinthian 8 in Swahili. Given the Scriptural admonition not to cause problems for a brother with a weak conscience, said the bishop, "It would be far better to bring an end to that [gay ordination] and it will bring healing to the church."
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