''My own sadness with what appears to be an obsession with human sexuality is the fact that the world is hurting, the world is hungry, the world is diseased, the world is hagridden by corruption and conflict. And we ought to beware, almost [as] our Lord would be. Our Lord was constantly moving in this world, doing acts of kindness, healing -- world healing. We seem to be engaging in this kind of -- almost a past time.... And I myself would imagine that God is weeping, and the world quite rightly should dismiss the church in those cases as being totally irrelevant.... Those instances when we are homophobic, I for myself would say that I am ashamed to be associated with a church that persecutes people who are already persecuted. And I have said, for myself, it is actually not a matter of theology: It is a matter of justice. And I can't, for myself, I can't sit and be quite when people are clobbered for being something which they can do nothing. Their sexual orientation, some people say, "You choose." I can't imagine anyone in their right mind choosing a way of life that exposes them to so much hatred, and sometimes people have been killed because they were been believed to have be homosexuals. And so, just speaking for myself, I will to the extent that I can, stand up and say, 'I oppose homophobia.'"
Archbiship Desmond Tutu speaking with BBC, and publicly asking the Anglican Church's leaders to agree to disagree about gay issues, and then continue focusing on their work as providers of services to the world's disenfranchised and needy. (BBC)
''I ask for your forgiveness in the way in which we, the institutional church, have often treated you, ostracized you -- made you feel as if God had made a mistake creating you as who you are. For we are those who are meant to care for one another, care for God's world, care for God's children, especially for those who suffer injustice and oppression.''
Archbishop Tutu in April as he received an OutSpoken award from the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco. (via YouTube)
