The C of E must make up its mind

The Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, has suggested that the Church of England has become obsessed by homosexuals. His implication seems to be that Jesus Christ didn’t go on about them too much and so, really, neither should we. The term ‘obsessed’ is a strong one, but I think justified. If Dr Sentamu had been less tactful, he might have suggested that one half of the Church of England clergy believes homosexuals will burn forever in the fires of Hell and wishes fervently to be on hand in order to help poke down the sodomites with those famous pitchforks, while the other half is more camp than Brownsea Island. That’s a sweeping statement, I admit, but not a million miles from the truth. Sentamu, however, is a tactful man and also careful. He is aware of his unique position as a clergyman drawn from two constituencies within the Church which are proudly, resolutely, homophobic — Low Church and black Africa — but also that he stands on the threshold of the Church’s highest office and that there won’t be much of a Church to lead if a schism over homosexuals splits it asunder.