Oz bishop says gay UK priest decision averts church crisis July 8, 2003 SYDNEY - The decision by a gay cleric in Britain not to accept a post as Bishop has averted a crisis in the Anglican Church, the Archbishop of Sydney said Monday. But Dr Peter Jensen said the church must now address the issue of same-sex marriages in Canada. British Canon Jeffrey John announced he has withdrawn from his nomination as the Bishop of Reading, following the backlash to his openly-proclaimed homosexual but celibate relationship of 27 years. "Dr John's decision to withdraw has averted a major crisis in the Church of England, (and) though the challenge facing the Church of England is lessened ... the crisis for the worldwide Anglican Church continues," Jensen said in a statement issued from Northern Ireland where he is attending a conference. Jensen said the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, and the church must now turn their attention to the Canadian Diocese of New Westminster and the Episcopal Church in the United States. New Westminster Diocese hit the headlines earlier this year when it refused to ban same-sex relationship blessings, while the US Diocese of New Hampshire last month elected the first openly gay bishop anywhere in the worldwide Anglican communion. Jensen said the twin controversies had left many "faithful, Bible-believing bishops, clergy and lay people" confused and alienated. "Those Anglicans need to be assured from the highest levels of leadership in the Anglican Communion that they are recognised as authentic, mainstream Anglicans," he said. However, other senior Australian Anglicans called Monday for a more reasoned debate. "From one point of view the decision is to be welcomed because it will allow us to debate the principle of whether we could ordain celibate homosexual people, which I would have thought was fairly uncontentious," said Australian Anglican leader Primate Peter Carnley. "The whole question of homosexual people in long-term, committed relationships, and how the church pastorally deals with them, is an issue we have got to resolve. "What I have been sad about is that we have not been able to discuss those issues in an open and civilised way without it becoming very personal, and focused on a person that has had to suffer through all this." -Sapa-AFP