Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori has issued a statement condemning Uganda’s proposed anti-homosexuality laws.

“The Episcopal Church joins many other Christians and people of faith in urging the safeguarding of human rights everywhere” the presiding bishop’s statement began. “We do so in the understanding that ‘efforts to criminalize homosexual behavior are incompatible with the Gospel of Jesus Christ’ (General Convention 2006, Resolution D005).”

She cited the Dromantine Communiqué of the Anglican Communion’s primates, which assured homosexual people that “they are children of God, loved and valued by him, and deserving of the best we can give of pastoral care and friendship.”

On another note, the presiding bishop accused unspecified Episcopalians and former Episcopalians of fomenting Africans’ hostility toward homosexuals.

“We note that much of the current climate of fear, rejection, and antagonism toward gay and lesbian persons in African nations has been stirred by members and former members of our own church” she wrote. “We note further that attempts to export the culture wars of North America to another context represent the very worst of colonial behavior. We deeply lament this reality, and repent of any way in which we have participated in this sin.”

The Episcopal Church’s Executive Council had planned a special meeting on Dec. 7 to discuss a response to the proposed law, but members of Executive Council who sought the meeting have now withdrawn their request.

On Nov. 20, the Chicago Consultation asked the presiding bishop, the Archbishop of Canterbury, the president of the House of Deputies, and Ugandan archbishop Henry Orombi to condemn the proposed law, which proposes punishments as severe as lifetime imprisonment or, in the case of sexual assault, the death penalty.

Dr. Bonnie Anderson, president of the House of Deputies, issued a statement [PDF] against the law five days later.

A Lambeth Palace official told Ruth Gledhill of The Times that the archbishop is engaging in intensive but behind-the-scenes efforts to resist the proposed law.

Although this is the only formal statement the presiding bishop has issued, she addressed the question briefly in a conversation with delegates at the Diocese of Atlanta’s annual council on Nov. 7.

“It’s a horrific law promulgated for political purposes,” the presiding bishop said then. “We’re working behind the scenes to do everything we can to make sure it doesn’t pass. But it appears not to be helpful, at the moment, for the Episcopal Church to publicly issue official statements about it.”

Sarah Dylan Breuer, one of the Executive Council members who sought the special meeting, expressed her gratitude for the presiding bishop’s statement.

“My experience was that in conversations and information-gathering among members of Council, the president of the House of Deputies, and the presiding bishop to prepare for the meeting, a clear consensus quickly emerged about what needed to be said and how important it was to say it,” Ms. Breuer said. “Therefore the work of the special meeting was completed before the meeting began, and we withdrew our request for meeting,” Ms. Breuer said.

“The Episcopal Church’s stance on these things is clear, and the Presiding Bishop has articulated it well,” she told The Living Church. “This is not a liberal or a conservative issue, but one of basic human rights: the right to live and work in safety, to be with family and meet with friends, and to provide or seek pastoral counsel from religious leaders in community. I’m proud when we can stand in solidarity with Christian leaders in Africa and around the world — and address ‘things done and left undone’ in our own province of the Anglican Communion — to honor these basic rights of all people as created in God’s image.”

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