Wed 14 May 2014 In: New Zealand Daily News View at Wayback View at NDHA
The Anglican Church has apologised for pain it has caused New Zealand’s lgbt community by being “complicit in homophobic thinking and actions of society”. In a statement released this afternoon, the church’s leadership says "Over many years, our church has become increasingly aware of the pain of the lgbt community. "All too often our church has been complicit in homophobic thinking and actions of society, and has failed to speak out against hatred and violence against those with same-gender attraction. "We apologise unreservedly and commit ourselves to reconciliation and prophetic witness." Religious historian Peter Lineham, from Massey University, says the Anglican Church has clearly been moved as it has been exposed to statements about the lives of gay and lesbian people in the past few years. "Clearly the Church is discomforted by the stories," he says. Lineham says while the apology is good, the way the Church has gone about it is "not very good" as "while they are apologising they are not actually righting any of the wrongs of the past."
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Wednesday, 14th May 2014 - 5:16pm