As the archbishop of the Anglican Church in North America, you are known as the leader of a conservative — and even ultraright — movement that was founded last year in a break from the Episcopal Church. Do you plan to convert to Catholicism now that Pope Benedict has opened his doors to Anglicans? I wouldn’t characterize us as ultraright. We don’t beat up folks. We are sort of mainstream right. I am very pleased that the Vatican has done this, but my call now is to lead all those Anglicans who stand where Anglicans have always stood.
Have you had any contact with the pope?
I corresponded with him as Cardinal Ratzinger in 2003, when we had the first national gathering of Episcopalians and Canadian Anglicans who realized they couldn’t go on with the Episcopal Church or the Anglican Church of Canada.
Was this at the time that the Rev. Gene Robinson was being consecrated by the Episcopal Church as the first openly gay bishop?
It was between the time he was confirmed and ordained. He’s a likable enough guy, but the problem is he’s leading a whole generation astray. I don’t believehe should be a bishop.
You and Robinson were fellow students at the General Theological Seminary in New York.
Yes. That was in the early ’70s. He was living a heterosexual lifestyle at the time. He was married. Then he left his wife and later committed himself to a male partner. I don’t wish him ill.
We should point out that you were deposed from ministry of the Episcopal Church by the presiding bishop, Katharine Jefferts Schori, after you threatened to have your diocese of Pittsburgh secede.
That was a year ago, but what’s interesting is that virtually no one in the Anglican world accepted that sentence. Within two weeks of being deposed, I was received at Lambeth Palace in London by the archbishop of Canterbury, who continues to consider me a bishop.
Bishop Schori heads the Episcopal Church in this country, and you opposed her election in 2006?
She was the least qualified, the least experienced, of the candidates, but I hoped that what she would bring if she were elected was the kind of grace that women often bring. She turned out to be far harder, far less willing to bend or compromise, than any of the men.
Where are you from?
I was raised in Bordentown, N.J., at Christ Episcopal Church in Bordentown. It’s a very special place. It’s where I was married, where I met my wife. It’s just a great parish church.
What was your childhood like?
My family knew a lot of turmoil, and there were a lot of things that happened in the house that were very unhappy. My mother was emotionally disturbed. She was a very difficult person. There were times when I was not sure I’d wake up in the morning because of her violence.
And your father?
He just died last week.
I’m sorry. Were you close to him?
Again, not greatly close to him. I tried to be a faithful son. He didn’t know how to handle my mother.
How large is this new denomination of yours?
In June, when the Anglican Church in North America was constituted, there were 702 congregations. Right now there are 755.
Is there any truth to the popular notion that the Anglican Church was created by Henry VIII just so he could annul his marriage? He wanted to ditch Catherine of Aragon and marry Anne Boleyn.
There’s no question that the Anglican Church, the Church of England, was created as an aspect of state policy. It had a very bad beginning. It had a very secular, very political beginning. God used it for good.
I see a lawsuit was filed by the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh to take away both money and property in your control as the longtime bishop there.There is an ongoing lawsuit. They may get the stuff, but we’ll get the souls. They may get the past, but we’ve got the future.
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