Gay bishop causes ripples in Catholic Church

By Lance Dwyer

The consecration of the first openly homosexual bishop in the Episcopal Church sparked a wave of controversy that could cause split within the Church.

On the Monday following Gene Robinson's consecration, bishops from around the world representing 50 million of the 77 million Anglicans world-wide announced they were in a "state of impaired communion" with the American denomination of the Anglican Church.

Paul Crowley, S.J., said that much of the controversy regarding Robinson's consecration is due to contrasting opinions rooted in the differences between the many cultures the Anglican Church exists in.

"It is very difficult to find a person in Africa who would say that being gay is okay," said Crowley, "The theology of the Church in Africa is going to be very different from a liberal reading of that same faith in the United States."

Crowley also said that within any given culture, there is a split between the conservatives and the liberals regarding interpretation over biblical scripture and even the role of scripture in faith.

"There are certainly differences of opinion about what certain scriptural passages say about homosexuality, or whether scripture is even talking about it in the first place," said Crowley.

Liberals would say that the bible does not prohibit homosexuality, while conservatives would argue just the opposite, according to Crowley.

Crowley said it is important to consider the context of the Bible, as well as to understand the fact that the societal understanding of sexuality is different from what it was 2000 years ago.

Although the Episcopal Church and the Roman Catholic Church are separate entities, there is still the tendency for one organization to influence the other, according to Francis Smith, S.J., associate professor of theology. Smith does not believe this will have a large impact on Catholicism, however, he cited the Anglican Church's move to ordain women as influencing progress within the Catholic Church.

"It's still very fluid, and only time will tell what the true impact of it will be," said Smith.

Like Smith, Crowley also feels Robinson's consecration in itself will not cause a direct change in the Catholic Church's view of homosexuality.

"It's certainly not inconceivable that many, many years from now the Church may come up with a different way of talking about homosexuality - a different way of understanding it," said Crowley.

Over the past one hundred years, leaders from both the Catholic Church and the Anglican Church have periodically discussed the idea of joining the two churches together again, after their split in the 16th century by Henry VIII. Crowley said that the ordination of homosexual priests will most likely hinder the possibility of the two churches merging again because it creates complications and distance between the politics of each church.

"We cannot let culture determine religion," said Smith, "The Church must adapt but it must never allow itself to be swallowed up by a given culture or else it would lose its identity."

Contact Lance Dwyer at (408) 554-4546 or at ldwyer@scu.edu.