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| Consacrato oggi nel New Hampshire il primo vescovo apertamente gay |
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| La cerimonia si svolge fra imponenti misure di sicurezza, mentre gli oppositori minacciano uno scisma e preannunciano il ripudio del nuovo vescovo da parte dei primati di altre Chiese anglicane |
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| Lunedì 03 Novembre 2003 |
| di La redazione di Gaynews |
| in Religione |
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La cerimonia si svolge fra imponenti misure di sicurezza, mentre gli oppositori minacciano uno scisma e preannunciano il ripudio del nuovo vescovo da parte dei primati di altre Chiese anglicane, specie africane. Il nuovo vescovo e i suoi sostenitori: accadde così anche per le prime ordinazioni di donne, e del resto vescovi segretamente gay ce ne sono sempre stati.
Gay Anglican bishop to be consecrated,schism feared
By Greg Frost
DURHAM, N.H., Nov 2 (Reuters) - The worldwide Anglican church teetered on the brink of a schism as the U.S. arm of the 70-million-member faith prepared to consecrate its first openly gay bishop on Sunday under tight security.
The Rev. Canon V. Gene Robinson, a New Hampshire priest, is scheduled to formally become a bishop in the Episcopal Church at a ceremony that will be marked by pomp, circumstance, and even an opportunity for his critics to object. Robinson has pleaded for unity and says he has no intention
of backing down, but conservative members of the Anglican Communion warn that his consecration will have dire effects on the 450-year-old Christian denomination. The Rev. Canon David Anderson, president of the American
Anglican Council, called Robinson's consecration "schismatic" and said his group was already preparing to lead a break from the more liberal wing of the U.S. Episcopal Church. "This is just another tear in the fabric of the church," Anderson said in a telephone interview from Atlanta, Georgia.
"I would anticipate that by tomorrow morning, statements of repudiation will be coming in from primates (church leaders) around the world." The Anglican Church in Tanzania, whose 3 million members outnumber the 2.3 million Episcopalians (Anglicans) in the
United States, warned the U.S. church on Saturday not to appoint an openly gay bishop, saying it would violate the word of God.
ROBINSON NOT BACKING DOWN
Robinson, a 56-year-old father of two who has lived with his male partner for 13 years, says the world church will not split over the issue and noted that many Anglicans disagree with the ordination of women. "We've not come apart over that and there's no reason for us to come apart over this," he said in an interview with CNN
on Saturday. "Surely these people don't believe that if I were to step aside that all of this would die," he said. "There are many extraordinarily gifted gay and lesbian people in positions of leadership throughout our church. My stepping aside would not
stop this one bit." The ceremony, due to begin at 4 p.m. EST/2100 GMT in an
ice hockey rink at the University of New Hampshire, will unfold amid tight security with mounted police standing watch and sniffer dogs inspecting bags.
Protesters gathered outside the arena several hours before the start of the service. Some applauded the church for appointing an openly gay bishop, but others waved placards with
homophobic messages like "Homosexual: Abomination to God." The Rev. Patricia Henking, an Episcopalian priest from
Merrimack, New Hampshire, said there was no compelling reason for the church to split. "I would be really sorry to see this event, which I regard
as changing nothing, as something that would split us or even shatter us," she said, adding that gay bishops have existed in the church for centuries -- just not openly gay ones. Among those due to participate in the ceremony was Jillian Lewis, a 16-year-old high school student from Farmington, New
Hampshire, who objects to Robinson's appointment as bishop on the grounds it violates Holy Scripture. "He's supposed to be leading us, but he's giving us false teachings because he's not following God," she said. As part of a sanctioned protest, Lewis, her mother, and others plan to walk out of the ceremony after formally stating
their opposition. Eventually they plan to ask Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, spiritual leader of the worldwide Anglican faith, for ermission to separate from the Episcopal
Church. Williams has said Robinson should not have been elected a
bishop because he is a practicing homosexual. The archbishop spoke last month of a "huge crisis looming" as a result. ((Editing by Stacey Joyce; Reuters Messaging: eg.frost.reuters.coreuters.net +1 617-367-4106))
((Multimedia versions of Reuters Top News are now available
for: * 3000 Xtra: visit http://topnews.session.rservices.com
* BridgeStation: view story .134
For more information on Top News: http://topnews.reuters.com))
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