Evangelical backlash follows England's decision to allow "gay" bishops

Distinction between chaste and active gay partnerships mere sophistry African leaders say

Conservative Evangelical leaders have charged the Church of England’s House of Bishops with hypocrisy, denouncing the 20 Dec 2012 announcement that gay clergy in civil partnerships, who remain celibate, may be appointed as bishops.

"A bishop known to be in a civil partnership could hardly be a focus of unity nor be a bishop for the whole church," the leaders of Anglican Mainstream said over the weekend, while the Archbishops of Uganda and Kenya have warned that appointment of a partnered gay bishop would be a grievous blow to the wider Anglican Communion.

“Our grief and sense of betrayal are beyond words,” Archbishop Stanley Ntagali of Uganda said on 7 January 2013. Read more