Monday, November 3, 2003
Uganda's Anglicans to sever ties with US gay bishop's diocese
Agence France-Presse Kampala, November 3
Uganda's Anglican Church said on Monday that it would sever relations with the US diocese of New Hampshire following the "unscriptural" consecration of the openly gay Gene Robinson as bishop over the weekend.
"We have already made a resolution that the (Anglican) Church of Uganda will break fellowship with any diocese that takes steps to consecrate a gay clergy (member) or blesses marriages of gays or lesbians," said Anglican Church spokesman Reverend Jackson Turyagenda.
"We are not the ones breaking ties with the Diocese of New Hampshire, it is the one that has opted out of the fellowship," he added.
Also Monday, the Anglican church in neighbouring Kenya said it had decided to cut ties with the whole of the Episcopal church in the US because of Robinson's consecration.
Homosexual acts are crimes in Kenya and Uganda.
Turyagenda said the Ugandan church will not break ties with the whole of the US Episcopal Church because some of its dioceses are opposed to the consecration of Robinson, a divorced father of two.
The spokesman said there was no chance of a split within Uganda's Anglican church because none of its members advocated homosexuality or lesbianism. "However we have reports that in some schools and institution of higher learning, some students have been introduced to this culture, but generally there are no advocates of these behaviours in the Church of Uganda," Turyagenda said.
A retired Anglican Bishop in central Uganda, Christopher Ssenyonjo, is the only known voice in the Ugandan church that has expressed sympathy for homosexuals though he says he is not gay himself and that he has never practiced homosexuality.
Ssenyonjo has been advocating for a church that is all-inclusive and helps gays overcome their sexuality instead of one that torments and isolates them.
On Sunday, Robinson became the first openly gay person to be consecrated bishop in the history of the Episcopal church.
In the run-up to the ceremony, many bishops heading Anglican churches in parts of Africa, Asia and Latin America announced that a gay bishop would not be recognized in their churches and would prompt them to break ties with their American affiliate.
© Hindustan Times Ltd. 2003.