Carey and Tutu wade into conflict over gays By Jonathan Wynne-Jones
Last Updated: 4:36pm GMT 18/11/2007

Telegraph.co.uk

The Anglican Church will be hit next week by a new row over its "obsession" with homosexuality.

Two of the Church's most respected figures are to deepen the growing rift over gays, which already threatens the biggest split in the Anglican movement since it began four centuries ago.

In attacks that will be seen as aimed at the leadership of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, both his predecessor, Lord Carey, and the South African archbishop Desmond Tutu take conflicting views on the issue.

advertisementThe South African Nobel Peace Prize winner accuses the Anglican movement of being "almost obsessed with questions of human sexuality". He says that under Dr Williams's leadership the church became "extraordinarily homophobic" during the debate over whether Gene Robinson, an openly gay priest, should be allowed to be the Bishop of New Hampshire.

Lord Carey accuses liberals of being "unbiblical" and undermining marriage by supporting gay partnerships.

His outspoken defence of the right of Christians to say that homosexual behaviour is wrong is in marked contrast to the tone of his successor, who has adopted a more conciliatory approach.

Insisting that he will "stand firm" against the pro-gay agenda, Lord Carey says that traditionalists should not be considered homophobic for saying that same-sex relationships are not acceptable.

His remarks will be broadcast two days before a controversial service being held by Dr Williams for gay clergy and their partners. The archbishop is due to celebrate the eucharist with them despite traditionalists claiming that this would defy Church guidelines that say that homosexual priests should be celibate. Evangelicals wrote to Dr Williams last month urging him not to preside at the service. Liberals fear Lord Carey's comments will add to the pressure on Dr Williams to pull out.

Lord Carey says: "I don't think that homosexuality is a human rights issue and one of justice. For me and many, many people, the issue is deeply theological. It has a lot to do with our humanity and how we find it and express it, to do with marriage… faithfulness and friendship."

Lord Carey and Archbishop Tutu make their comments on a Radio 4 programme, From Calvary to Lambeth. Lord Carey says: "I've never discriminated against them [homosexuals]. Having said that, I believe that the Church should have the right to make its own rules and I stand very firmly with what the Bible has to say about practising homosexuality."

He argues that the Bible is "clearly unequivocal" in stating that it is wrong, and accuses liberals in the Church who support a homosexual lifestyle of undermining marriage.

"I respect homosexuals, their right to exist, their right to set up homes and have same-sex relationships, but it's quite a different thing to say that those things should be normative within the Christian community," he says. "The Christian community has every right to say that certain behaviour is right, certain behaviour is wrong, and to hold to that without being called homophobic."

Lord Carey's interview will be broadcast at 8pm on Tuesday, November 27. Two days later, Dr Williams is to give an address entitled "Present realities and future possibilities for lesbians and gay men in the Church" during the service at St Peter's, Eaton Square. The London parish contains some of the most liberal Anglicans.

Canon Giles Goddard, chairman of Inclusive Church – a pro-gay group - said Lord Carey's comments were "seriously unhelpful" to his successor's attempts to prevent the Church from splitting. But evangelicals will welcome Lord Carey's remarks.

Dr Williams says his attendance at the service is an attempt to listen to the concerns of different groups within the Church and to try to resolve the divisions.