Church of England to allow celibate gay bishops

January 5, 2013

The Church of England are planning to allow gay men who are and in a  to become bishops according to an announcement made by the House of Bishops. This expands a previous decision made in 2005 allowing gay clergy with civil partners.

Whether gay clergyman would be allowed to become bishops became an issue in 2003 with the appointment of Rev as Bishop of Reading. Jeffrey John was forced to step down from his position and now serves as Dean of St Albans Cathedral. In 2010, he was also a candidate to become Bishop of Southwark but was rejected, allegedly because of his sexual orientation.

Anglican evangelicals have suggested such a change ought to have been passed by the rather than the House of Bishops. Chris Sugden from said the change coming from the House of Bishops "looks too much like salami-slicing away at the Church's teaching".

Former Bishop of Rochester raised questions about what celibacy means for a gay bishop: "Does the admission of those in civil partnerships to the episcopate, who state they are celibate, include those who were previously in actively homophile relationships including with their present partner? The House of Bishops statement does not elaborate on this point but it is crucial to an understanding of what celibacy might mean in this context."

In November, the General Synod voted against proposals to allow the appointment of women as bishops.