Gay canon defends role in church

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The world's soon-to-be-consecrated first openly homosexual bishop refused to assume responsibility yesterday over whether the worldwide Anglican Communion splits after his Nov. 2 enthronement as the new Episcopal bishop of New Hampshire.

"I will bear the responsibility for trying to discern God's call and following it, but we are not in control of whether people choose to leave or not to leave," Canon V. Gene Robinson told The Washington Times in an interview yesterday.

"If they choose to do that, that is their choice. I can shoulder a lot of responsibility, but I can't shoulder all the responsibility for everyone staying in the Anglican Communion," he said.

His consecration and a western Canadian's diocese's decision to bless same-sex unions were the topic of an emergency meeting of the world's Anglican archbishops last week in London. Thirty-seven archbishops released a statement on Oct. 16 saying Canon Robinson's enthronement "will tear the fabric of our Communion at its deepest level."

But the bishop-elect said such predictions were premature.

"Once people see what little effect this has in their day-to-day life and in the life of their local congregation, I don't believe people will want to give up their churches just because the bishop of New Hampshire is gay," Canon Robinson said in an interview with The Washington Times.

Americans, he added, didn't get permission from the rest of the 70 million-member Anglican Communion -- of which the Episcopal Church is one member -- when they voted to ordain women in 1976.

"We didn't come apart over that, and we won't come apart over this either," he said. "I am staying, and I think the vast majority of the Episcopal Church will stay."

God is leading Episcopalians toward "greater inclusion of gay and lesbian persons in the church," he said. "That's what Jesus did. If we don't allow gay and lesbian folk full inclusion in the church, then we shouldn't baptize them."