ARBP CAREY laments erosion of the Anglican church Anglican bishop defends gay blessings canada.com Wednesday, September 18, 2002 VANCOUVER (CP) -- In his final address as the head of the Anglican church, Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey renewed his opposition to a British Columbia diocese's decision to become the first in Canada to bless same-sex relationships. Carey, titular head of the world's 70 million Anglicans, told church leaders gathered in Hong Kong this week that his greatest concern is that the church is being steadily undermined by dioceses and individual bishops taking unilateral action in matters of sexuality and others. He said Monday he believes B.C. Bishop Michael Ingham is doing what he sincerely believes is in the best interests of all. But such actions are fragmenting the church, he said. Ingham and others "seem to be making such decisions without regard to the rest of us" and contrary to church teachings. The erosion of the Anglican church has been going on for 30 years but has now reached crisis proportions, he said. A majority of the churches in the southwestern B.C. diocese voted in favour of blessing gay marriages at a synod meeting in June. It was the third time a majority had voted in favour, but Ingham had not approved the votes until this summer. Representatives of eight parishes walked out of the meeting following the vote. The head of the Anglican Church in Canada has supported the process laid out in the proposal but stopped short of endorsing the motion. Thirteen Canadian Anglican bishops issued a statement saying such blessings are in conflict with the moral teachings of the Holy Scripture and the tradition of the universal church. The decision of the B.C. diocese has garnered support and criticism from around the world but Ingham has stood by the decision. His reaction to Carey's speech was swift. Ingham questioned whether the remarks were appropriate and whether it was ethical of the archbishop to name individuals not present to defend themselves. "His remarks about the diocese of New Westminster fail to honour the careful way both the synod and I have made decisions about the blessing of same-sex unions," Ingham said in a statement issued Tuesday. Carey's "oversimplification does a great disservice to truth, and to the great majority of clergy and parishes -- including the traditionalist ones -- who remain loyal to the bishop and synod," he said. Ingham said he twice withheld consent, in part because of the impact on the church. But the church cannot be unified through the unjust discrimination against minorities such as homosexuals, Ingham wrote. Rev. Ed Hird, spokesman for eight parishes in the diocese who do not support same-sex blessings, said the fact the archbishop has spoken out shows the crisis is not just a local one. "It's ironic that Bishop Michael has complained that Archbishop Carey has not been listening to his children, when members of his own diocese are making the same complaint about Bishop Michael." Hird said that more than 110 archbishops, bishops, and priests from around the world have issued written statements of dismay, alarm, and strong disagreement with the New Westminster decision to bless same-sex unions. © Copyright 2002 Canadian Press _________________________________________________________________ Join the world’s largest e-mail service with MSN Hotmail. http://www.hotmail.com