Ntagali criticises Church of England for accepting gay bishops

The Archbishop of the Church of Uganda, the Rev. Stanley Ntagali, has hit back at the Church of England for allowing gay bishops.

In his statement released on Monday, Archbishop Ntagali said it was “very discouraging” to learn that the Church of England, which brought the Gospel of Jesus Christ to Uganda, had taken “such a significant step away from that very gospel that brought life, light, and hope to us”.

He said the recent decision of the House of Bishops in England to allow clergy in civil partnerships to be eligible to become bishops was no different from allowing gay bishops.

“This decision violates our biblical faith and agreements within the Anglican communion,” the statement reads in part, adding that when the American Church made it in 2003, it tore the fabric of the Anglican communion at its deepest level.

“This decision only makes the brokenness of the communion worse and is particularly disheartening coming from the mother Church,” the Rev. Ntagali said.

Last week, the Church of England allowed gay clergy in civil partnerships to become bishops, a decision that was “fiercely” contested by the conservative evangelical diocese, although they failed to block it.

Mr Ntagali also said the Church of Uganda would stand with those in the Church of England who continued to follow biblical and historic faith and practices.

The issue of gay clergy has created an international uproar and split the Anglican Church since 2003 amid a row of consecrating the first openly gay bishop of New Hampshire in US, the Rev. Gene Robinson, who retired recently.

Similarly, Dr Eliud Wakabula, the Archbishop of the Anglican Church of Kenya, with other churches in Nigeria and Sudan are in communion with their counterparts in North America that broke away from the main one.

He said the church deviated from “clear and historic teachings of the Scripture”.
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