If Dean Jeffrey John becomes a bishop, the floodgates will open

Damian Thompson
Tuesday, September 2, 2008

It was only a matter of time. Dean Jeffrey John is in the running to become Bishop of Bangor and therefore Britain's first openly gay bishop. And there is not a damned thing that the Archbishop of Canterbury can do to stop it happening because (a) the Church in Wales is disestablished and (b) Dean John, though in a civil partnership, is celibate.

You asked for this, Rowan. When you first became Archbishop, you encouraged your old friend to put himself forward as Bishop of Reading and then dropped him in the most humiliating manner possible when evangelicals made a fuss.

This is just a guess, but I reckon that the Archbishop of Wales, Barry Morgan, remembers the great betrayal of 2003 and is perfectly happy to cause +Cantuar maximum embarrassment. If Dean John was in a sexually active relationship, then Morgan would be treading on thin ice. But he is celibate, and in addition ticks just the right boxes – "affirming Catholic", noted theologian, Welsh speaker. (Remind you of anyone?) the rest