An Apology to Gay Christians?

Bishop Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury and the worldwide leader of the Anglican Church, gave his annual address yesterday to the General Synod where he apologized for previous comments about homosexuality that he said might have caused harm or pain.

Williams, who is leading a church at a time where potential schisms over the role of LGBT and women bishops threaten to disrupt the faith, said that reality shows a need for clear compassion and complex understanding of issues related to human sexuality. He regarded his previous comments -- where he's called homosexuality at odds with the church's teaching and called the appointments of two LGBT bishops "divisive" -- as careless.

"There are ways of speaking about the question that seem to ignore these human realities or to undervalue them," Williams said. “I have been criticised for doing just this and I am profoundly sorry for the carelessness that could give such an impression.”

The Bishop also spoke about the role of LGBT clergy -- which here in the United States has caused certain churches to break away from the Episcopal Church -- and tried to give the subject a heavy amount of caution, referncing that for many LGBT people and straight allies in the church, full inclusion in the Church is what God not only demands, but expects.

"The debate over the status and vocational possibilities of LGBT people in the church is not helped by ignoring the existing facts, which include many regular worshippers of gay or lesbian orientation and many sacrificial and exemplary priests who share this orientation," said Williams.

Is it enough? It certainly seems like an olive branch for past statements that may have caused offense. And though it falls short of an endorsement of ordaining LGBT clergy, there is a sort of power that comes with hearing the worldwide leader of the Anglican church recognize the dignity of regular worshippers and gay and lesbian priests. Maybe the question is less whether this apology is enough, and more whether the apology moves discussion forward within the church to avoid a schism that would create a harshly conservative branch of Anglicanism, and a branch tolerant of LGBT and women leaders.

Meanwhile, the Bishop's address yesterday also brought a stinging rebuke of Uganda's Anti-Homosexuality Bill. That's welcome news, given that the head of the Anglican Church in Uganda, Archbishop Henry Orombi, issued a statement supporting the death penalty and repressive prison sentences for queer people. In his condemnation, Archbishop Williams called Uganda's efforts to criminalize homosexuality as "repugnant."

That sounds like a pretty fitting adjective for what Uganda is trying to do.

A fitting adjective for the Bishop's speech? Certainly bold. Now can it change hearts and minds, and bring opposing viewpoints together ...

Photo credit: Steve Punter