Bishop Robinson Strikes Again
Appearing in London, the Episcopal bishop of New Hampshire -- whose consecration caused an unholy row across global Anglicanism and led to a hiatus for Anglican-Catholic dialogue -- had some choice words for Rome.
From the Beeb:
Robinson's even more a fool to give voice to the bunk. Now, I still respect Robinson as he had to put up with a bunch of conservative loonies who disrupted his consecration ceremony by screaming about "fisting." I kid you not.
While he usually has much better manners than anyone who's ever sought to trash him, I'm hoping his recent comments are a singular lapse of judgment and not indiciative of a trend.
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From the Beeb:
Bishop Robinson said: "We are seeing so many Roman Catholics joining the [Episcopal] church.Whatever one thinks of it, going after the spokesman of the Christian world is some way to "witness." And anyone who leaves for the ECUSA solely on the basis of caricatures of Ratzinger is a fool -- we've seen that the left's prophecies of doom on 19 April have been as credible as Frank Perdue at a PETA rally.
"Pope Ratzinger may be the best thing that ever happened to the Episcopal Church."
He continued: "I find it so vile that they think they are going to end the child abuse scandal by throwing out homosexuals from seminaries.
"It is an act of violence that needs to be confronted." ...
"I am not here to talk about a social agenda. I am not here to grind any axes, I am here to do the thing that Christians do, that is to witness to the good of God."
Robinson's even more a fool to give voice to the bunk. Now, I still respect Robinson as he had to put up with a bunch of conservative loonies who disrupted his consecration ceremony by screaming about "fisting." I kid you not.
While he usually has much better manners than anyone who's ever sought to trash him, I'm hoping his recent comments are a singular lapse of judgment and not indiciative of a trend.
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posted by Rocco Palmo at 12:13
5 Comments:
The truth of the matter is that relatively few people are leaving the Catholic Church for ECUSA over B16, and few Episcopalians are becoming Catholic as a result of Gene Robinson. There are a few who have come to Rome, like Alvin Kimel, and I am glad that they are here. That said, Robinson's offhand comment was pretty tasteless, especially in light of the fact that the proposed policy is not likely to be what Robinson fears or Jeff Kantor hopes it to be. But, Catholics should know that Episcopalians of all forms of Churchmenship have often said terrible things about the Pope both in private conversation and in church. It is not, as Jeff thinks it is, a gay thing so much. The real issue is that the very existence of the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church that doesn't recognize ECUSA to be an authentic church in the proper sense and a rival for the allegiance of the English and English-speaking peoples world wide, is itself sufficiently an affront for ECUSA people to abominate Rome. I know, because I was an Episcopalian, and true Anglo-papalists are few and far between. And I am sure that Robinson heard and partook of antipapal sentiments while an undergraduate of the noble southern WASP Episcopal college, the University of the South. Robinson probably has been Rome-bashing since he was an Episcopalian teenager, long before he determined what his sexual orientation or inclinations were.
Re the interruption of Robinson's consecration.
In every ECUSA episcopal consecration, there is an opportunity for people to express their objections to the consecration. There were several objectors, and all of them were decorous and respectful except for one Earle Fox, an erratic Episcopal priest who used to live in the DC area, worked for an ex-gay organization for a time, and briefly served as a chaplain for small quasi-Anglo Catholic congregation that was formed by former parishioners of Ascension & St. Agnes and St. Paul's K, who were unhappy that the two parishes were not interested in joining the "Anglican Communion Network." In any event, Fox opposed Bishop Robinson's consecration on the grounds that supposedly X percentage of gays engage in this or that sexual practice. In fact, he never got to the fisting or golden showers part, because he was cut off by Presiding Bishop Griswold. It was an absurd performance.
"Bishop Robinson left his wife and family to take up with a gay lover (Hate speech! Homphobia! Someone DO something!) NATURALLY he's bitterly resentful of the Church's ACTUAL teaching about homosexuality."
Interestingly enough, I just learned last week that Robinson did not in fact leave his family to take up with a gay lover. In fact, his wife actually left him for another man (for what reasons I don't know) and he met his partner shortly after his marriage went bust-up. This is apparently the account in Stephen Bates book about the Robinson affair (cue Simon and Garfunkel). So the true state of affairs appears to much different than what many of both Robinson's fans and detractors believed.
"Try going to a gay bar and explaining the REAL teaching of the Catechism, not the perfervid Jeff version. And see what reaction you get. I'd love a report of how many converts to Ratzingerism you make!"
Errr.....at the risk of sounding cliche, as St. Francis said, "Preach the gospel at all times - if necessary use words."
Without breaking confidences and violating people's privacy, I can say that my experience is quite different from that of Jeff. 'Nuff said.
Jeff, you have shown yourself, once again, to be a boor. Have a nice life.
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