'I ordained gay bishops'

2003-07-06 13:58

London - The former archbishop of Canterbury, George Carey, has revealed that he ordained two bishops into the Anglican Church whom he knew to be homosexuals.

In an interview with The Sunday Times, Carey - primate of the Church of England and the Anglican communion from 1991 through 2002 - said he did so after they privately assured him that they were celibate.

"I have no doubt of their faithfulness ... and I want to set the record straight that I have never knowingly ordained a practicing homosexual priest or bishop, nor would I ever want to do so," he said.

The worldwide Anglican church is split over the issue of gay clergy, after the current archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, appointed Jeffrey John, who is openly gay, as the next bishop of Reading, east of London.

The controversy is set to dominate a five-day meeting of the Church of England's governing body, the General Synod, which opens Friday in York, in the north of England.

Carey said: "I have kept very strictly to the traditional view held in the Catholic Church, the Orthodox Church and the Anglican communion - that practising homosexuality is wrong."

This should apply not only to clergymen, but also to lay members of the church, he said. That viewpoint contrasts with standing church policy: that gay sex between lay Anglicans is allowed.

The Church of England has 108 bishops.

- AFX