Gene Robinson, the Episcopal Bishop of New Hampshire, and the first openly gay Anglican bishop, attacked the Catholic Church in November while visiting London.
“I find it so vile that they [the Catholic Church] think they are going to end the child abuse scandal by throwing out homosexuals from seminaries. It is an act of violence that needs to be confronted.” He added: “Pope Ratzinger [sic] may be the best thing that ever happened to the Episcopal Church. We are seeing so many Roman Catholics joining the church.”
Our response to the media spared him no quarter: “Gene Robinson is a walking embarrassment to Episcopalians everywhere, and is profoundly ignorant of what has been happening to his own church.”
We then questioned his erudition: “Had he read David Shiflett’s splendid book, Exodus: Why Americans are Fleeing Liberal Churches for Conservative Christianity, he might have been able to connect the dots: it is because of people like him—a practicing homosexual—that his church is imploding. And prior to Shiflett’s work we had the ground-breaking volume by professor Thomas C. Reeves, The Empty Church: Does Organized Religion Matter Anymore? His book is also about what happens when the likes of Robinson assume power.”
We saved the best for last: “Here’s to you, Mr. Robinson. Your proselytizing efforts are deeply appreciated by Roman Catholics.”
