Intervention by Carey helps sway bishops

[06/08/98 - Helen Carter - Web - http://reports.guardian.co.uk/articles/1998/8/6/14883.html]

Helen Carter on the 'painful' debate which led to the conservatives' victory 

The Lambeth Conference voted by an overwhelming majority for a conservative resolution which recognised homosexuality but rejected gay practices as being incompatible with the Scriptures. 

After a debate lasting 2 1/2 hours yesterday afternoon, 526 bishops voted for the motion, 70 opposed it and 45 abstained.

It was the first time homosexuality had been debated by the Lambeth Conference, which meets every 10 years. At its last meeting the debate was dominated by the issue of women priests.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, George Carey, voted at a crucial moment to back the conservative motion. He said: "It has been quite a difficult and painful debate ... I became conscious that we could allow disagreement to become division. I see no room in the holy Scriptures for any sexual activity outside holy matrimony of a husband and wife."

He urged the bishops to respect one another,but pointed out that though the homosexuality issue was important, there were more pressing issues, such as international debt, world poverty and the church's mission to young people.

Duncan Buchanan, the Bishop of Johannesburg, said: "This does not comment on anything other than the traditional attitude towards marriage. We recognise there are people, homosexual in orientation, who seek as much love and compassion from the church as anyone. We are not asking anyone in this room to endorse homosexual practices, we are asking you to exercise the same compassion as Christ does to any person."

Catherine Roskam, Bishop of New York, said that she had laboured over the issue but had decided that if they released a strong statement condemning homosexuality the church would be divided.

She said: "While I respect [that] to affirm homosexual practices would be evangelical suicide, to condemn them would be evangelical suicide in my region."

Michael Bourke, Bishop of Wolverhampton, said he was aware that the Bible could be used not only to inspire but to oppress, especially those who were different. "Two centuries ago people were burnt as witches on the Bible's authority because people suffering from mental illness were thought to be possessed by demons," he said. He said the conference would not condone homosexuality, but they should listen to homosexuals otherwise they would send out signals to homophobics who would go on behaving in the same way.

Peter Adebiyi, Bishop of Owo, said that when missionaries went to Africa 50 years ago his forefathers accepted the faith and held tight to the word of God."In the beginning he created man and woman. He made women not men to live together and procreate and multiply to fill the earth. Therefore to us it is unbiblical to talk about homosexuality. In the New Testament Christ says man shall leave his father and mother and seek a wife. Lord Jesus Christ loved sinners but hated the sin, we love homosexuals but hate their sin."

Wilson Mutebi, Bishop of Mityana in Uganda, said "homosexuals are urged in love, I stress, love, to repent".

But Alexander Malik, Bishop of Lahore, had a more extreme view and accused the motion being debated of being ambiguous and impotent.