Gay clergy to defy bishops over no-sex 'marriages'
By Jonathan Petre, Religion Correspondent
(Filed: 08/08/2005)

The Church of England's crisis over homosexuality deepened yesterday after gay clergy said that they would defy their bishops over civil partnerships.

Some told The Daily Telegraph that they had no intention of assuring their bishops that they will be sexually abstinent when they "marry" their partners.

One said he was "furious" with the way homosexual clergy were being treated and gay rights activists predicted a widespread revolt.

The bishops also came under fire from Anglicanism's leading conservative, Archbishop Peter Akinola, the primate of Nigeria. He said the Church of England was effectively introducing gay marriages and issued a warning that it could face similar punishment to that of liberal Americans and Canadians, who are threatened with expulsion from the worldwide Church for extending homosexual rights.

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