A priest who supports same-sex unions was elected Saturday as bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Southern Ohio.
``I have a fairly settled conviction that any two persons who struggle to live and grow together in fidelity on a lifetime basis have the opportunity to experience God's grace and to use that relationship for holiness,'' The Rev. Thomas Edward Breidenthal said.
However, Breidenthal, a dean of religious life at Princeton University, said he would not perform a same-sex union without the consent of the church.
``I have every hope that eventually the church will work this matter out,'' he said.
The Episcopal Church, which has 2.3 million members, is at the center of a worldwide Anglican feud over how to interpret what the Bible says about sexuality.
Katharine Jefferts Schori, who recently took office as presiding bishop, unapologetically supports ordaining gays and allowing blessing ceremonies for same-sex couples. In 2003, she voted to confirm New Hampshire Bishop V. Gene Robinson, the first openly gay Episcopal bishop.
Breidenthal, 55, dean of Religious Life and of the Chapel at Princeton University in New Jersey, was elected out of a field of seven nominees on the third ballot. Breidenthal was elected with 151 lay votes and 86 clergy votes. An election on that ballot required 137 votes out of a total of 272 cast in the lay order and 77 of 152 in the clergy order.
The election took place at the Vern Riffe Center for the Arts on the campus of Shawnee State University in Portsmouth, Ohio, during the diocese’s 132nd annual convention.
Beyond Inclusion, an organization of gay and straight people together, wants to convince the mainstream parishioner, and help the mainstream parish, move toward blessing same-sex relationships. Beyond Inclusion testifies that same-sex relationships are holy and beautiful in the sight of God, are theologically and liturgically justifiable, are compatible with Scripture, and should be blessed and recognized by the church. Additionally, the ordination of lesbians and gays represents an asset to the church community. Beyond Inclusion also recognizes all justice issues are inter-related; homophobia, racism, sexism, and xenophobia all come from the same source. Where you find one, you are likely to find the others.
Mr Gates, 63, has spent most of his career as an official at the Central Intelligence Agency, where he rose to become director of the agency under the first President Bush in 1991, a position he held until 1993.
Mr Gates' early career was dogged with controversy, particularly over the Iran-Contra issue, and his first nomination as CIA director was withdrawn by Ronald Reagan in 1987.
He is currently the president of Texas A&M University, one of the largest universities in the United States.
He was reportedly the first choice of President George W Bush to become the US intelligence czar in 2005, an appointment which eventually went to John Negroponte after he turned it down.
That post was created to rectify weaknesses in co-ordinating US intelligence after 9/11, but Mr Gates expressed concern that the post might not have the clout needed to be effective.
Zbigniew Brzezinski, who was Gates's boss as national security adviser in the Carter White House and today is one of the sharpest critics of the Iraq war, described the appointment yesterday as "the best . . . that President Bush has made in the course of his six years in office." Brzezinski described Gates as someone "whose judgment can be trusted and whose common sense is reassuring," and said that "this appointment may be marking the beginning of a major corrective in American policy towards the Middle East."
2002年末には、「ミニＣＩＡ」とも呼ばれる特別計画室（Office of Special Plans）が国防総省に設けられた。特別計画室にはラムズフェルド長官の側近が集まり、諜報機関もどきの分析グループを作り、ＣＩＡはそこにデータを提供するだけの下請けになって、都合のよい情報だけをつまみ食いし、微妙なニュアンスや疑問は切り捨てられた。イラク戦争をめぐる「情報の政治化」疑惑はこうして生まれたのだ。
