Dr Jeffrey John The Church of England has abandoned the latest chance to appoint its first openly gay bishop after the Archbishop of Canterbury apparently caved into pressure from church conservatives in the UK and developing nations. Dr Jeffrey John, currently Dean of St Albans, had been nominated onto a shortlist for the position by a panel which included the Archbishop, Dr Rowan Williams. Williams was furious when John's nomination was leaked to the press a week ago, thus giving conservative and anti-gay elements in the church time to mount a campaign against the appointment. Williams, who has been a liberal force in the past, sidelined John, echoing his actions in 2003 when he sidelined John who was then the prospective Bishop of Reading. Williams appears to be trying to avoid a threatened split in the C of E, know as the Anglican church in New Zealand, by maintaining connections between the liberal and conservative wings, and insisting on the Anglican doctrine that active homosexuals cannot be appointed to the episcopate. John lives in a gay relationship but says he is celibate.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Friday, 9th July 2010 - 9:55pm