In a joint press conference on the Family Synod with Cardinal Vincent Nichols, Bishop Peter Doyle of Northampton issued an apology to the LGBT community, that this important issue had not been properly addressed. (Previously, during the synod itself, Bishop Doyle had criticised the synod for the same point).
He (Bishop Doyle) also apologised that the Synod had not had time to deal with the issue of homosexuality. “I’m very sorry for the LGBT good people who were looking to the synod for something. It was really hard for people of same sex attraction. It wasn’t blocked. There was just so much to deal with.”
It’s also worth noting that his words of apology included “LGBT good people“, echoing a recurring theme from a number of bishops.
am seething with anger as I write the finishing lines of my short book on “What Jesus Would Say to a Lesbian Couple.” Here is a big risk venture. No more playing “Mr. Nice.” I am writing by way of casting off my shame for keeping silence for twenty years. Privately I heard about their pain and felt their tears, but in the classroom a cold fear crept over me. I never created the open dialogue that would have exposed how the “official church” inadvertently fosters “hate speech and hate deeds” against those very persons whom I, in the name of God’s love, wanted to cherish and protect. If you’re interested in this topic, I’d be pleased to have you read it. . . . http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01846R9WI/