The News Letter reports today that “a conservative Church of England bishop has attended a meeting of Church of Ireland clergy increasingly unhappy at their church’s response to a minister’s same-sex partnership.”
The News Letter report continues:
There are few details about where Monday night’s meeting, which was first revealed by this newspaper last Thursday, was held, or how many were present.
However, the News Letter understands that the meeting included an address by Bishop Wallace Benn, a leading figure on the right of the Church of England.
The Bishop of Lewes is chairman of the advisory council to the GAFCON primates, a group of traditional Anglican leaders from around the world who are opposed to clergy in gay unions and believe Anglicanism is becoming too liberal.
The visit by the 64-year-old, who is originally from Dublin, comes amid suggestions by some parishes that they may seek alternative bishops, believing that the Church of Ireland’s 12 bishops have been too relaxed about Dean Tom Gordon’s civil partnership.
Last week the church’s leader in Ireland, Archbishop Alan Harper, told the News Letter that Irish bishops would not welcome any “intrusion” by episcopal colleagues from outside Ireland. Instead, the Irish bishops have set out a process which will take about six months in an attempt to be clear about what the Bible teaches on homosexuality. That will include a major conference next spring to discuss — but not decide — on what the church’s position should be.