Archbishop Desmond Tutu Accuses Anglican Church of Gay Obsession

Gay exclusion within the worldwide Anglican Communion remains a serious problem as Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams' decision earlier this month to not invite openly gay New Hampshire Bishop V. Gene Robinson to next summer's Lambeth Convention illustrates. Robinson's consecration, blessings for same-sex couples and other issues continue to divide many church leaders. Nigerian Archbishop Peter Akinola remains one of the Communion's most vocal anti-gay leaders but his colleague, South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu, said many of his African counterparts remain obsessed with these issues at the expense of other much more pressing problems.

The Nobel Peace Prize winner accused his colleagues of negligence in their apparent failure to respond to the HIV/AIDS epidemic, Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe's continued oppression against his own people, the Darfurian genocide and general corruption on the continent. One can argue African Anglican leaders' apparent obsession with homosexuality continues to distract attention away from their own failure to tackle these issues. Gays and lesbians remain all too convenient scapegoats as Tutu's comments suggests. Hypocrisy in organized religion seem to go hand in hand in terms of attitudes towards homosexuality. Tutu continues to show courage as he challenges his colleagues to offer a seat at the table to every Anglican. The Anglican Communion in Africa should follow his example.

Anglican Church Continues to Struggle With Homosexuality

The latest in a seemingly never-ending series of rows within the Anglican Communion over openly gay New Hampshire Bishop V. Gene Robinson erupted yesterday after the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Rev. Rowan Williams, declined to invite him to the Lambeth Conference next summer in London. The church holds the gathering every 10 years but the New York Times reported Williams wrote he reserves "the right to withhold or withdraw invitations from bishops whose appointment, actions or manner of life have caused exceptionally serious division or scandal within the communion.

The Episcopal Church -- the American branch of the worldwide Anglican Communion -- consecrated Robinson in 2003 after his New Hampshire congregants overwhelmingly embraced him. Nigerian Archbishop Peter Akinola and other vocal dissenters within the communion have distanced themselves from the Episcopal Church in response to its support of the openly gay bishop. Robinson's consecration sparked a much needed conversation among the Anglican Communion and other organized religious institutions about the role LGBT can play within them. These debates are often contentious and even painful. Williams' decision to exclude Robinson, however, sends an appalling message to LGBT Anglicans they remain on the margins of the worldwide table.