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The Anglican Communion is the third largest Christian communion after the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches. Founded in 1867 in London,the communion has more than 85 million members within the Church of England and other autocephalous national and regional churches in full communion. The traditional origins of Anglican doctrine are summarised in the Thirty-nine Articles (1571). The archbishop of Canterbury in England acts as a focus of unity,recognised as primus inter pares,but does not exercise authority in Anglican provinces outside of the Church of England. Most,but not all,member churches of the communion are the historic national or regional Anglican churches.
The Church of England is the established Christian church in England. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain by the 3rd century and to the 6th-century Gregorian mission to Kent led by Augustine of Canterbury. Its adherents are called Anglicans.
Rowan Douglas Williams,Baron Williams of Oystermouth,is a Welsh Anglican bishop,theologian and poet. He was the 104th Archbishop of Canterbury,a position he held from December 2002 to December 2012. Previously the Bishop of Monmouth and Archbishop of Wales,Williams was the first Archbishop of Canterbury in modern times not to be appointed from within the Church of England.
The Lambeth Conference is a decennial assembly of bishops of the Anglican Communion convened by the Archbishop of Canterbury. The first such conference took place at Lambeth in 1867.
Since the 1990s,the Anglican Communion has struggled with controversy regarding homosexuality in the church. In 1998,the 13th Lambeth Conference of Anglican bishops passed a resolution "rejecting homosexual practice as incompatible with Scripture". However,this is not legally binding. "Like all Lambeth Conference resolutions,it is not legally binding on all provinces of the Communion,including the Church of England,though it commends an essential and persuasive view of the attitude of the Communion." "Anglican national churches in Brazil,South Africa,South India,New Zealand and Canada have taken steps toward approving and celebrating same-sex relationships amid strong resistance among other national churches within the 80 million-member global body. The Episcopal Church in the U.S. has allowed same-sex marriage since 2015,and the Scottish Episcopal Church has allowed same-sex marriage since 2017." "Church of England clergy have appeared to signal support for gay marriage after they rejected a bishops' report which said that only a man and woman could marry in church." At General Synod in 2019,the Church of England announced that same-gender couples may remain recognised as married after one spouse experiences a gender transition. In 2023,the Church of England announced that it would authorise "prayers of thanksgiving,dedication and for God's blessing for same-sex couples."
George Leonard Carey,Baron Carey of Clifton is a retired Anglican bishop who was the Archbishop of Canterbury from 1991 to 2002,having previously been the Bishop of Bath and Wells.
The Anglican Church of Australia,formerly known as the Church of England in Australia and Tasmania,is a Christian church in Australia and an autonomous church of the Anglican Communion. It is the second largest church in Australia after the Catholic Church. According to the 2016 census,3.1 million Australians identify as Anglicans. As of 2016,the Anglican Church of Australia had more than 3 million nominal members and 437,880 active baptised members. For much of Australian history since the arrival of the 'First Fleet' in January 1788,the church was the largest religious denomination. It remains today one of the largest providers of social welfare services in Australia.
The canon law of the Roman Catholic Church requires that clerics "observe perfect and perpetual continence for the sake of the kingdom of heaven". For this reason,priests in Roman Catholic dioceses make vows of celibacy at their ordination,thereby agreeing to remain unmarried and abstinent throughout their lives. The 1961 document entitled Careful Selection and Training of Candidates for the States of Perfection and Sacred Orders stated that homosexual men should not be ordained. In 2005,the Church clarified that men with "deeply rooted homosexual tendencies" cannot be ordained. The Vatican followed up in 2008 with a directive to implement psychological screening for candidates for the priesthood. Conditions listed for exclusion from the priesthood include "uncertain sexual identity" and "deep-seated homosexual tendencies".
The Anglican Church of Southern Africa,known until 2006 as the Church of the Province of Southern Africa,is the province of the Anglican Communion in the southern part of Africa. The church has twenty-five dioceses,of which twenty-one are located in South Africa,and one each in Eswatini,Lesotho,Namibia and Saint Helena. In South Africa,there are between 3 and 4 million Anglicans out of an estimated population of 45 million.
John Tucker Mugabi Sentamu,Baron Sentamu,is a retired Anglican bishop and life peer. He was Archbishop of York and Primate of England from 2005 to 2020.
In 2003,the Lambeth Commission on Communion was appointed by the Anglican Communion to study problems stemming from the consecration of Gene Robinson,the first noncelibate self-identifying gay priest to be ordained as an Anglican bishop,in the Episcopal Church in the United States and the blessing of same-sex unions in the Anglican Diocese of New Westminster. The Commission,chaired by Archbishop Robin Eames,published its findings as the Windsor Report on 18 October 2004. The report recommended a covenant for the Anglican Communion,an idea that did not come to fruition.
The Anglican realignment is a movement among some Anglicans to align themselves under new or alternative oversight within or outside the Anglican Communion. This movement is primarily active in parts of the Episcopal Church in the United States and the Anglican Church of Canada. Two of the major events that contributed to the movement were the 2002 decision of the Diocese of New Westminster in Canada to authorise a rite of blessing for same-sex unions,and the nomination of two openly gay priests in 2003 to become bishops. Jeffrey John,an openly gay priest with a long-time partner,was appointed to be the next Bishop of Reading in the Church of England and the General Convention of the Episcopal Church ratified the election of Gene Robinson,an openly gay non-celibate man,as Bishop of New Hampshire. Jeffrey John ultimately declined the appointment due to pressure.
The Catholic Church does not promote or condone homosexual activity. The Catholic Church condemns same-sex sexual activity and denies the existence and validity of same-sex marriage. While the Church says it opposes "unjust" discrimination against homosexual persons,it supports what it considers "just" discrimination in the employment of teachers or athletic coaches,in adoption,in the military and in housing. The Catechism of the Catholic Church promulgated by Pope John Paul II considers sexual activity between members of the same sex to be a grave sin against chastity and sees homosexual attraction as objectively disordered. However,the Catechism also states that homosexuals "must be accepted with respect,compassion,and sensitivity".This teaching has developed through a number of ecumenical councils and the influence of theologians,including the Church Fathers.
This article largely discusses presence of openly lesbian,gay,bisexual,and transgender and queer bishops in churches governed under episcopal polities. The existence of LGBTQ bishops in the Roman Catholic,Anglican,Lutheran,Methodist and other traditions is a matter of historical record,though never,until recently,were LGBTQ clergy and bishops ordained by any of the main Christian denominations. Homosexual activity was engaged in secretly. When it was made public,official response ranged from suspension of sacramental duties to laicisation.
The Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON) is a series of conferences of conservative Anglican bishops and leaders,the first of which was held in Jerusalem from 22 to 29 June 2008 to address the growing controversy of the divisions in the Anglican Communion,the rise of secularism,as well as concerns with HIV/AIDS and poverty. As a result of the conference,the Jerusalem Declaration was issued and the Global Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans was created. The conference participants also called for the creation of the Anglican Church in North America as an alternative to both the Episcopal Church in the United States and the Anglican Church of Canada,and declared that recognition by the Archbishop of Canterbury is not necessary to Anglican identity.
Justin Portal Welby is a British bishop who has served as the 105th Archbishop of Canterbury since 2013. Welby was previously the vicar of Southam,Warwickshire,and later Bishop of Durham,serving for just over a year. Ex officio,he is the Primate of All England and the symbolic head primus inter pares of the worldwide Anglican Communion.
Section 28 or Clause 28 was a legislative designation for a series of laws across Britain that prohibited the "promotion of homosexuality" by local authorities. Introduced by Margaret Thatcher's Conservative government,it was in effect from 1988 to 2000 in Scotland and from 1988 to 2003 in England and Wales. It caused many organisations such as lesbian,gay,bisexual and transgender student support groups to close,limit their activities or self-censor.
Barnaby Kemp Graham Miln is a British social activist and former magistrate. He was the first lay person to come out as gay in the General Synod of the Church of England and thereby the most publicly gay magistrate in England and Wales.
Roderick Charles Howell Thomas is a retired Church of England bishop. He was the Bishop of Maidstone,a provincial episcopal visitor for conservative evangelical members and parishes of the church,from 2015 until his retirement in 2022.
Dissent from the Catholic Church's teaching on homosexuality has come in a number of practical and ministerial arguments from both the clergy and the laity of the Catholic Church. The Catholic Church teaches that while being gay is not a sin in and of itself,any sex outside of marriage,including between same-sex partners,is sinful,and therefore being gay makes one inclined towards this particular sin.
References
- ↑ "The Reunion, Stonewall". BBC Radio 4. 25 September 2009. Retrieved 29 May 2021. - Quote at 5mins 40sec
- 1 2 "Canon Peter's Apology", Surrey County Council Staff Newsletter, 4 February 2022, archived from the original on 28 July 2022, retrieved 28 July 2022
- ↑ "BBC Politics 97". www.bbc.co.uk.
- ↑ "The Archbishop of Canterbury's Awards: Citations in Alphabetical Order" (PDF). Archbishop of Canterbury. 9 June 2017. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 June 2017. Retrieved 14 July 2017.
