Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, warned against demonising homosexuals, last night.
Responding to the death of Ugandan activist David Kato, who had previously been outed in a national newspaper, Williams told press: "You cannot go around sharing information about the identity of proposed
lesbian and gay persons and urging people to ostracise them or worse 'Hang
Them' as in the headlines of one of the Ugandan newspapers.
"You cannot do that without taking responsibility for the consequences.
Language which demonises gays and lesbians has consequences."
As reported in the Belfast Telegraph, he made the statement at the Emmaus retreat centre in Swords, Co Dublin, which is hosting a six-day conference for Anglican leaders.
Previously, Williams has said that he has no problems with gay members of the Anglican church – as long as they are celibate.
During an interview with The Times newspaper, he said: "To
put it simply, there's no problem about a gay person who's a bishop.
"It's
about the fact that there are traditionally, historically, standards
that clergy are expected to observe. So there's always a question about
the personal life of the clergy."
