The Church of Ireland Bishop of Derry and Raphoe, the Right Rev Ken Good, has said he finds it "very difficult to see how the consecration of Canon Robinson at this time will maintain or further unity in the church".
He was referring to the consecration of Canon Gene Robinson, an openly gay man, as Bishop of New Hampshire in the US.
Speaking at the diocesan synod of Derry and Raphoe yesterday, he said he could not see how the event "will uphold the church's discipline, how it will guard its faith and how it will promote mission.
"In fact, the warnings of the Archbishop of Canterbury, many Primates, bishops and members of the Anglican Communion that it will achieve the very opposite must be taken seriously.
"Quite why the diocese of New Hampshire and parts of ECUSA [Episcopalian Church of the United States of America\] seem so determined to push ahead with this decision at this particular time is very hard to understand, to explain or to justify."
He pointed out that he was not a bishop at the time of the 1998 Lambeth Conference, "but had I been there, I would have agreed with and voted for the resolution on sexuality that was passed by a very substantial majority of Anglican bishops".
The resolution made a clear distinction between homosexual orientation and homosexual practice, rejecting the latter as incompatible with scripture, and it declined to support the blessing of same-sex unions or the ordination of those in same-gender unions.
However it committed the bishops to listen to the experience of homosexual persons and to assure them that they were loved by God and that all baptised, believing and faithful persons, regardless of sexual orientation, were full members of the body of Christ.
He was "aware that this view which the bishops outlined at Lambeth goes against the tide of much secular opinion where every self-expression is equally acceptable and valid, and even goes against the sincerely held views of some within the church.
"But I also believe that there are times when God calls his people to be courageously counter-culture and we may need to be prepared to endure being misunderstood and even dismissed for our stance. If there is such a thing as the hard gospel, there is also such a thing as tough love," he said.
