New Westminster Bishop Michael Ingham has said and done some outrageous stuff in the past but, to my knowledge, this is the first time he has publicly accused fellow bishops of homophobia.  A new low for the inimitable cleric.

Canada's only Anglican bishop to authorize the blessing of homosexual unions said yesterday the refusal by his fellow bishops to approve the rite for the national church is the product of institutional inertia rooted in homophobia.

Bishop Michael Ingham of the Vancouver-area diocese of New Westminster said homophobia, hiding behind interpretations of scripture, remains an acceptable prejudice in Canadian Anglicanism.

Michael, if you don't mind my asking: you know this how, exactly?  Can you discern the hearts and minds of your colleagues who voted against same-sex blessings?

"There are members of our church who staunchly defend that. In my view, [it] is a total misreading of scripture and a misuse of the Bible to oppress people. But they clearly want to continue to do that."

That's a serious allegation to base solely on "my view", don’t you think?  Shouldn't one have more solid evidence before accusing colleagues of being motivated by irrational fear?

In light of Bp Ingham's previous disquisitions on the meaning of biblical passages bearing on homosexuality, I wouldn't put much stock in his "view" of Scriptural teaching.

"To say that the blessing of same-sex unions is not in conflict with doctrine is a hugely significant thing," Bishop Ingham said. "But to say at the same time there's no doctrinal conflict but we're not going to [do] anything about it is inertia - it's institutional inertia rooted in homophobia."

The reference to "institutional" behaviour is just a tad opaque.  Given that the Order of Bishops defeated SSBs by a two-vote margin in a public vote, he's talking about identifiable individual bishops.  Because reporter Michael Valpy names two of the 21 who voted against authorizing SSBs, we know that Bp Ingham included at least one liberal bishop in his indictment: James Cowan of the Diocese of British Columbia (Vancouver Island).

The two bishops who voted for the no-conflict resolution but against the blessings were David Torraville of the diocese of Central Newfoundland and James Cowan of the Vancouver Island diocese.

Bishop Cowan said after the vote that, while he favoured same-sex unions, he was still "asking for the theological rationale." Bishop Torraville is known to have faced strong opposition from among his clergy to the blessings.

Bp Cowan wants "the theological rationale"?  Who cares about theology when there's an agenda to push through?

This, too, is puzzling: Bp Cowan voted that SSBs do not conflict with church doctrine, which is where theological considerations come into play.  Believing that SSBs comport with doctrine but requiring a “theological rationale" for authorising them seems like locking the barn door after the horse has escaped.

Michael Ingham has dropped a hot potato into the lap of our new primate Fred Hiltz.  Abp Hiltz needs to dissociate the Anglican Church of Canada from Ingham's ill-considered remarks ASAP.

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