OHIO: BISHOP ROBINSON SAYS OPPOSING BISHOPS VIOLATED ORDINATION VOWS

Gay Episcopal bishop says it's 'pretty clear' opposing bishops violated ordination vows

RICHARD N. OSTLING Associated Press

NEW YORK - The Episcopal Church's first openly gay bishop, V. Gene Robinson, said Monday it is "pretty clear" that five bishops opposed to his election who led an Ohio confirmation service Sunday violated their vows taken as members of the hierarchy.

Six conservative congregations that also oppose Robinson invited the five bishops from outside the diocese without required approval from Ohio's Bishop J. Clark Grew II. They do not accept Grew's leadership because he voted for Robinson.

Robinson, a Lexington, Ky., native, was speaking to reporters before a ceremony to receive the annual Leadership Award from the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, the oldest U.S. gay rights organization.

Plans to provide special bishops for dissenting congregations like those in Ohio are the top issue at a meeting of the nation's Episcopal bishops that opens Friday in Texas.

Robinson said he supports a plan from the head of the denomination, Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold, to allow visiting bishops with permission of the regular resident bishop, as provided under current church rules.

Conservatives have already declared that plan unacceptable and warn there could be further Ohio-style disobedience if the bishops' meeting does not provide an absolute right to be led by outside bishops they consider acceptable.

Robinson's consecration has provoked a severe dispute in the Episcopal Church and even more so in the international Anglican Communion, of which the U.S. denomination is a part.

Robinson said he is "very open" to allowing visiting bishops in his own New Hampshire diocese, so long as he continues to make periodic visits to dissenting congregations and the visitor does not "try to undermine my authority" or "take the congregation out of the Episcopal Church."

The award from the task force showed the degree to which Robinson has become a symbol for the nationwide gay movement.

Task force Executive Director Matt Foreman said Robinson's elevation ranks in significance with recent steps toward same-sex marriage in Canada, Massachusetts and several U.S. cities.

"He is a hero to our community," Foreman said, not only for becoming a church bishop but for "the way in which he has conducted himself in the face of vitriolic attacks."

As a gay celebrity, Robinson was also named "Person of the Year" by The Advocate, a gay periodical. And he was featured last week in a segment on CBS' "60 Minutes" that included a visit to a New York gay bar.

"I have this double life," he remarked. "I'm not the gay bishop in New Hampshire. I'm just the bishop."