ENGLAND: Outspoken Rochester bishop says he will leave his post
Episcopal News Service. March 30, 2009 [033009-04]
Mary Frances Schjonberg
Church of England Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali, leader of the Diocese of Rochester, announced March 28 that he will leave his diocesan post in September.
A diocesan news release said that Nazir-Ali, who will be 60 in August, "is hoping to work with a number of church leaders from areas where the church is under pressure, particularly in minority situations, who have asked him to assist them with education and training for their particular situation." The release said details of the arrangement are still being worked out.
Nazir-Ali was one of about 230 Anglican Communion bishops who boycotted the 2008 Lambeth Conference of bishops in Canterbury, England. Prior to the start of the conference, he told the Birmingham Post, a British newspaper, that his difficulty with attending the conference centered on "being in eucharistic fellowship with and teaching the common faith alongside those who have ordained a person to be bishop whose style of life is contrary to the unanimous teaching of the Bible and of the church down the ages." Nazir-Ali was referring to the Episcopal Church's approval of the Diocese of New Hampshire's election and ordination of Gene Robinson as its bishop in 2003.
Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams is quoted in the Rochester diocesan release as saying Nazir-Ali's departure "will leave a real gap in the ranks of English bishops.
"His enormous theological skill, his specialist involvement in the complex debates around bioethics, his wide international experience and his clarity of mind and expression have made him a really valuable colleague, and he has served the church and the wider society with dedication and distinction," Williams said in the release, adding that he was glad that he would still be able to draw on Nazir-Ali's "expertise and friendship."