A radical change in church teaching on homosexuality, declaring it to be "divinely ordered," was revealed this week in a catechism commissioned by the Archbishop of York. The second most senior churchman in the Church of England, the Most Rev. David Hope, wrote the new catechism and describes it in his foreword as "a celebration of Christian living."

Author Canon Edward Norman, canon and treasurer of York Minster, seeks to define Anglicanism for the first time since Thomas Cranmer wrote "The Book of Common Prayer" in 1662. Norman's section on sexuality contradicts official teaching and the views of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. George Carey.

"Homosexuality," says the catechism, "may well not be a condition to be regretted but to have divinely ordered and positive qualities." It continues: "Homosexual Christian believers should be encouraged to find in their sexual preferences such elements of moral beauty as may enhance their general understanding of Christ's calling."
The Anglican Church is deeply divided over its teaching on homosexuality and at the last Lambeth Conference bishops hotly debated the issue. In the end, Carey, supported by African and Asian bishops, passed a resolution saying homosexual acts were "incompatible with Scripture." The resolution said "abstinence is right for those who are not called to marriage."

(http://www.telegraph.co.uk/et?ac=000480450009990&rtmo=3HY8K3BM&atmo=99999999&pg=/et/01/6/11/ncat11.html)