US Episcopal Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori says her Church has been unfairly singled out for criticism because it is honest about consecrating gay bishops.
Jefferts Schori told BBC Radio 4's PM program that the Church, which is the Anglican body in the US, is far from the only Anglican province that has a bishop with a same-sex partner. In 2003, Episcopalians elected the first openly gay bishop, Gene Robinson of New Hampshire, causing an uproar that has pushed the Anglican family toward a split.
"He is certainly not alone in being a gay bishop; he's certainly not alone in being a gay partnered bishop," Jefferts Schori said in an interview broadcast on Tuesday. "He is alone in being the only gay partnered bishop who's open about that status."
The 77 million-member Anglican Communion is a global fellowship of churches that trace their roots to the Church of England. Most Anglicans are traditionalists who believe Scripture bars gay relationships. Liberal-leaning Anglicans believe the Bible's social justice teachings on acceptance should apply to same-gender couples.
The US Episcopal Church has not developed an official public prayer to bless gay couples churchwide. However, Jefferts Schori and other Episcopal leaders acknowledge that such ceremonies take place in many parishes. She said other Anglican churches do the same.
"Those services are happening in various places, including in the Church of England, where my understanding is that there are far more of them happening than there are in the Episcopal Church," Jefferts Schori said.
Last month, the conservative Diocese of San Joaquin in California voted to split from the Episcopal Church, becoming the first full Anglican diocese in the US to secede from the denomination in the debate over homosexuality.
The diocese, based in Fresno, plans to align with the like-minded Anglican Province of the Southern Cone, based in South America.
Across the US, about 55 conservative Episcopal parishes, out of more than 7,000 around the country, have split off from the Church in the last few years, and some have affiliated directly with Anglican provinces overseas, according to national Church statistics.
Three other dioceses have taken initial steps toward splitting from the US Church. They are Fort Worth, Texas; Quincy, Illinois; and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
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