Ruth Gledhill, Religion Correspondent of The Times, states that – The Church of England has given the green light for celibate gay men in civil partnerships to become bishops.
In a paper published yesterday, the Church acknowledged the impact of the Equality Act in requiring an update of its rules on the advancement of homosexuals.
It paves the way for senior clerics, such as Dr Jeffrey John, the Dean of St Albans, to become bishops. Dr John, who is in a civil partnership but a celibate relationship, was forced by the Archbishop of Canterbury to withdraw as Bishop of Reading in 2003 because of his sexuality.
He was also blocked from becoming the Bishop of Southwark last year because of fears that he would be a focus of disunity instead of unity.
The guidance was sent out before a meeting of the General Synod in York next month. It offers pointers for those who select bishops through the Crown nominations process.
The Act stipulates that employers cannot discriminate against someone on the ground of sexual orientation, but they can impose a “genuine occupational requirement”, meaning that the Church can exclude a gay person in a sexually active relationship or impose a requirement relating to sexual orientation to “avoid conflicting with the strongly held religious convictions of a significant number of the religion’s followers”.
The Archbishop of Canterbury has described divisions over the topic as “a wound in the whole ministry”.
The latest document, Choosing Bishops — the Equality Act 2010, says: “A person’s sexual orientation is, in itself, irrelevant to their suitability for episcopal office or indeed ordained ministry more generally.”
The document emphasises that there is no statement of the position of the Church of England that declares that a celibate person in a civil partnership cannot be considered for appointment as a bishop. But it says: “It is clearly the case that a significant number of Anglicans, on grounds of strongly held religious conviction, believe that a Christian leader should not enter into a civil partnership, even if celibate, because it involves forming an exclusive, lifelong bond with someone of the same sex, creates family ties and is generally viewed in wider society as akin to same-sex marriage. It is equally clear that many other Anglicans believe that it is appropriate that clergy who are gay by orientation enter into civil partnerships, even though the discipline of the Church requires them to remain sexually abstinent.”