In a move decried by conservatives in the Episcopal Church, the bishop of Los Angeles presided over the blessing of a same-sex union last month of a well-known priest and his partner.
The Rt. Rev. J. Jon Bruno, bishop of the six-county Los Angeles Episcopal Diocese, confirmed Tuesday that he had blessed the union of the Rev. Canon Malcolm Boyd, 80, the prominent author, and his partner of 20 years, Mark Thompson, 51. Five other bishops were present.
Although Bruno has long supported same-sex union blessings, his decision to officiate at the May 16 blessing of Boyd and Thompson is believed to have been the first time that a sitting Episcopal bishop has presided at such a ceremony since the church's highest lawmaking body gave tacit approval to the practice in August, church officials in Los Angeles and New York said.
Such a blessing stops short of a marriage in the view of the church and does not mention the words marriage or wedding. The Episcopal Church does not sanction same-sex marriage.
Bruno said Tuesday that he did not perform the blessing to make any kind of political statement.
"I did it because it was the blessing of two human beings who have lived in a faithful relationship. If I trust that gay people are fully enfranchised members of our church, and since the General Convention has recognized this is an action that takes place in the church, I have to offer the same rite of blessing to these people when I am asked as I would do for any other human being," the Los Angeles bishop said.
But in a statement issued over the Memorial Day weekend, the conservative American Anglican Council criticized Bruno's decision as "deplorable" and arrogant.
It leveled the same charge against the Rt. Rev. John Chane, Episcopal bishop of Washington. Chane's office said Tuesday that he would bless the union of the Rev. Michael Hopkins, 43, and John Bradley, 44, on June 12 in Maryland. Hopkins' term as president of Integrity, the Episcopal gay and lesbian advocacy group, just ended.
"These actions ... demonstrate that the arrogance of revisionist Episcopal bishops knows no limits as they put the homosexual agenda before any hope of unity in the Episcopal Church and Anglican Communion," the council statement said. It said it was "too late" for Bruno, but urged Chane to reconsider his upcoming blessing.
