"Two openly gay priests are candidates to become bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of California and the election of either would worsen the rift over homosexuality in the bitterly divided church.
The Rev. Bonnie Perry of Chicago and the Very Rev. Robert Taylor of Seattle -- both of whom have longtime same-sex partners -- are among the five candidates. In 2004, an emergency panel of the global Anglican Communion, which includes the U.S. Episcopal Church, asked for a moratorium on installing bishops in same-sex relationships. The request came after the Rev. Gene Robinson, who has a longtime male partner, was consecrated bishop of New Hampshire in 2003.
''There's nothing really the Anglican Communion can do to us. But they can say they're no longer in communion with us,'' said Sean McConnell, spokesman for the Diocese of California....
The Rev. Paul Zahl, the dean of Trinity Episcopal School for Ministry in Ambridge, Pa., said if Perry or Taylor is chosen as the new bishop, it's a ''definitive thumbing of the nose at the worldwide church.''
He said hundreds of the 2.3 million Episcopalians already left the church after Robinson was consecrated and ''for those who are still hanging in there, this election would be the final straw. That's no judgment on the individuals, but on the principle.'"
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