Archbishop of Sudan Daniel Deng called for the resignation of gay Episcopal Bishop Gene Robinson at a news conference yesterday, saying it’s the only way to avoid a schism in the Church.
Said Deng: “Gene Robinson has to be away from the Anglican world and be a normal Christian. If he is, as he always says, a Christian, he should resign for the sake of the church.”
Deng said that God did not make a mistake in creating Adam and Eve and would have created two Adams if he had wanted that.
Deng has not spoken with Robinson directly. Said the Sudanese bishop: “I have nothing to say to him.”
Following Deng’s statement, the Right Rev Jack Iker, Bishop of Forth Worth, called on those who believe in Gene Robinson to leave the conference:
Said Iker:
“Those Bishops who stand in solidarity with Gene Robinson should withdraw themselves from further participation in the Lambeth Conference. Having failed in several attempts to include Gene in the Conference, his supporters should themselves feel a sense of rejection from the Conference itself. Integrity and honesty would dictate that they should stand with Gene — excluded from full participation in the Lambeth Conference. Is this all talk, or is it backed up by action?”
25% of the world’s Anglican bishops have boycotted the Lambeth Conference because of the Episcopal church’s ordination of Robinson. Robinson is in Canterbury, England holding events on the fringes of the Lambeth conference. Earlier this month, he was heckled while giving a sermon by a protester branding him a “heretic.”
Watch Deng’s news conference, AFTER THE JUMP…
