ENGLAND: HOMOSEXUALITY IS DIVINELY ORDERED, SAYS NEW ANGLICAN CATECHISM

By Victoria Combe – The Telegraph

A new Anglican catechism—commissioned by the Archbishop of York, the Most Rev. David Hope, and authored by Canon Edward Norman of York Minster—declares that homosexuality “may well not be a condition to be regretted, but one with divinely ordered and positive qualities.”

Titled An Anglican Catechism, this is the first comprehensive attempt to define Anglican doctrine since the 1662 Book of Common Prayer. It directly contradicts the 1998 Lambeth Conference resolution—endorsed by then-Archbishop of Canterbury Dr. George Carey—which affirmed that “homosexual practice is incompatible with Scripture” and commended abstinence for those not called to marriage.

The catechism states:

“Homosexual Christian believers should be encouraged to find in their sexual preferences such elements of moral beauty as may enhance their general understanding of Christ’s calling.”

It further explains that homosexuality “is not generally chosen, but arises from inherited impulses or early experience.” Norman acknowledges the tension: “The Church continues to classify homosexuality as intrinsically disordered, yet significant numbers of Christians are—and always have been—homosexual.”

Archbishop Hope, who described the work as “a celebration of Christian living,” has faced personal scrutiny over his sexuality, once calling it a “grey area” and affirming his celibacy.

Richard Kirker of the Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement praised the text as “a refreshing statement the Church is crying out for.”

ENGLAND: WOMEN COULD BECOME ‘SECOND-CLASS’ BISHOPS

By Jonathan Petre – The Telegraph, February 24, 2004

A confidential Church of England report proposes allowing women to become bishops—but only as “junior” or restricted ones, explicitly barred from the two highest offices: Archbishop of Canterbury and Archbishop of York.

The draft, prepared by a working party chaired by the Bishop of Rochester, Rt. Rev. Michael Nazir-Ali, seeks compromise with conservative evangelicals who oppose female leadership based on the biblical principle of “headship”—the belief that spiritual authority must reside with men.

One option under consideration would permit women to fill one of the 43 diocesan bishoprics, but exclude them from the archbishoprics. Critics warn this creates a “stained-glass ceiling” and entrenches institutional inequality.

A General Synod debate is expected in late 2004 or early 2005. If approved, legislation could allow the first female bishops within five years—though hard-line traditionalists may still reject any compromise.

The discussion occurs amid the global Anglican crisis over sexuality—and a decade after women’s ordination triggered one of the Church’s deepest internal conflicts.