Via The Lead:

The Times of London reports on a recent conversation with the former archbishop:

“What is sad to me is that we are investing so much time and energy in the subject of homosexuality at a time when the world is groaning from poverty, disease and corruption. God must be weeping.”

Just as he opposed discrimination against people because of the colour of their skin or their gender, he said he opposes discrimination against gays.

“I cannot have fought about the injustice of apartheid and keep quiet about the injustice of being being penalised for something about which they can do nothing, their sexual orientation,” he said.

You can’t blame The Times or The Lead for burying the lede – there are two big stories here (well, big in the Anglican world):

Desmond Tutu, the former Anglican Archbishop and anti-apartheid activist who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984, said yesterday that his prostate cancer had returned but that he was in “good health”.

Archbishop Tutu, whose cancer was first diagnosed in 1996, said the illness had come back after a period of remission. But he added: “I am fine. I am slightly older than I was yesterday.”

He said his oncologist had told him he had “a good cancer”, and that the prayers of others were helping to keep him alive. “I owe a great deal to the many who sustain me with their prayers.”

I really love Archbishop Tutu — he was one of the reasons I was drawn to the Episcopal Church in the first place (that and a raging case of Anglophilia). It’s shocking how many men I know – Episcopal priests all — who have or have had prostate cancer.

I’ll have to be sure to keep the good Archbishop in my prayers for his health and well-being.  And also pray that he learns to use that little word “no” more often – he finds it difficult to turn people down when he’s asked to help with some worthy cause.

Excellent analysis of the Current Unpleasantness!

Waste Paper Basket » The Cartoon Blog by Dave Walker

[tags]Akinola, Jefferts Schori, Rowan Williams[/tags] 

The Lead

"Illiberal winds are blowing pernicious policy and polity changes our way," the Rev. Canon Marilyn McCord Adams, Regius Professor of Divinity at Oxford University says. "…The Communiqué from the Tanzanian Primates’ meeting brought the intentions of those who dictated its content more fully out of the closet."

What delicious use of irony – those intentions are meant to force gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and transgendered persons back into the closet, at least in the Anglican church. Must read this more carefully tomorrow.  And I like that term "illiberal." It's time we defined the opposition in terms of what they are not for a change, taking back the label of "liberal" with pride.

[tags]Anglican, LGBT[/tags] 

Daily Herald | DuPage County

Within the next few months, Resurrection members will move to a rented building elsewhere in West Chicago. The church has not decided if it will join a group of Anglican parishes based in Africa and Asia that are forming their own organization, Koch said.

A longtime member of the NAACP and a former member of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, Koch rejects the view that his church’s stance is bigoted. “If I had a family come to my church that were polygamist, we would love them, we would be kind, but we wouldn’t approve. That wouldn’t mean that we were bigoted. It would mean that we didn’t agree with their lifestyle,” Koch said.

“That’s exactly the way we feel about same-sex relationships,” he said. “It ought to be possible to disagree without being accused of being a bigot.”

The Rev. Stephen Martz, of St. Nicholas with the Holy Innocents in Elk Grove Village, called that explanation “disingenuous.” “It’s a clear message that, ‘We as a church don’t approve of you,’ ” said Martz, who’s known Koch for years. “The reality is that the message is harmful.”

New members who are gay or who support the church’s welcoming stance on homosexuality have swelled the ranks of the St. Nicholas congregation, Martz said.

Koch and Skidmore both said that unlike other such splits, they are grateful Resurrection’s departure was peaceful. “Because of the way it’s been handled by both parties, I don’t think it’s going to deter the path we’re on,” Skidmore said. “We’re going to continue to reach out and welcome the ministry of all members — and that includes our gay and lesbian members.”

Hey! Well, this is sad news about Res leaving, because they're a vibrant group, but they've been a foot-and-a-half out the door for years. It's strange about their stance, because they're liturgically a lot more modern and "liberal looking" than most other parishes in the area.

It must be hard on Steve, though. He's known Koch for years, as stated in the article, and he tells me via email that the interviewer caught him a bit unawares for the comment.