Tutu Supports Gay Priests

21 Sept 2006- Johannesburg- South Africa- Archbishop Desmond Tutu, in the first authorized biography of the Nobel peace laureate, said he was ashamed of his Anglican Church‘s conservative position that rejected gay priests.

Excerpts from the book were scheduled to be appear in South Africa on Friday and the biography was scheduled for release in time for Tutu‘s 75th birthday on 7 Oct.

In a 1998 letter to Williams predecessor, Archbishop George Carey, Tutu wrote that he was "ashamed to be Anglican." It came after the Lambeth Conference of Bishops rejected the ordination of practicing homosexuals saying their sexual relations were "incompatible with scripture."

"He found it little short of outrageous that church leaders should be obsessed with issues of sexuality in the face of the challenges of AIDS and global poverty," wrote Allen.

Allen wrote that the process left Tutu disappointed with some political leaders, particularly de Klerk, who he believed had not accepted accountability for apartheid atrocities.

De Klerk said he regrets the antipathy that Tutu subsequently developed for him and that their relationship has mellowed with time. He said he had the greatest respect for Tutu and for the constructive role he often played.

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