Speaking in an interview in London, Robinson said that many of the English Church's clergy lived openly in their rectories with gay partners, with the full knowledge of their bishops. He criticized the stance of bishops who threaten the clergy with enmity should their relationships become public.

Said Bishop Robinson: "I have met so many gay-partnered clergy here and it is so troubling to hear them tell me that their bishop comes to their house for dinner, knows fully about their relationship, is wonderfully supportive but has also said, 'If this ever becomes public then I'm your worst enemy.'

"It's a terrible way to live your life and I think it's a terrible way to be a Church. I think integrity is so important. What does it mean for a clergy-person to be in a pulpit calling the parishioners to a life of integrity when they can't even live a life of integrity with their own bishop and their own Church? So I would feel better about the Church of England's stance, its reluctance to support the Episcopal Church in what it has done, if it would at least admit that this not just an American challenge. If all the gay people stayed away from church on a given Sunday the Church of England would be close to shut down, between its organists, its clergy, its wardens . . . it just seems less than humble not to admit that."

Robinson also said that the Episcopal Church, currently under threat of sanctions from the Communion's Primates if it does not modify its liberal agenda at a meeting of its bishops in September, has been ordaining gay priests "for many, many years. Not every bishop will do that, but many do. I will and have. Many make a requirement that the person be celibate, but many do not make such a requirement. It's interesting that the wider Anglican Communion has either not known that or has not chosen to make an issue of it before now."

He was surprised that this did not become an issue until his election arguing that if the principle of gay ordination is wrong, it should be wrong for priests and bishops, not just bishops.

Speaking of his recent meeting with the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, who is currently on study leave, Bishop Robinson said: "It was very private and I was eager and willing to accommodate him and when he asked me not to function liturgically or to preach. I was saddened by that but I want to help him as much as I can. I'm limited in what I can do and I won't step down, but other than that I am eager to try and help him any way that I can. I certainly would not do so [celebrate or preach] without his permission."

Robinson claimed that bishops in the Church of England have backed him but declined to name them. "I have received huge support from the Church of England, both from the clergy and from the pews. Hardly a day goes by, never mind a week, that I don't receive encouraging words of support. I think the thing that is the most mystifying to me and the most troubling about the Church of England is its refusal to be honest about just how many gay clergy it has."

Robinson emphasized his roots in evangelicalism. "As a matter of fact I'm more evangelical than almost anyone you would run into in the Episcopal Church . . . When I speak to gay and lesbian groups I don't talk to them about gay rights, I talk to them about their souls. My goal is to get them to church and bring them to Jesus."

As many as ten Church of England bishops indicated last week that they may boycott the Anglican Communion's 2008 Lambeth Conference. They join many Global South Anglican leaders who have already declined or threatened to decline their invitation to the global decennial meeting, objecting to the invitation of U.S. Episcopal bishops who supported the consecration of Robinson. The conservative Anglican leaders have called upon The Episcopal Church to express regret for its controversial actions believing the U.S. branch has departed from Anglican tradition and Scripture.

END