Catholic parish to host Episcopal Church ordination of gay rights proponent

Katharine Jefferts Schori, the presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church, will ordain an Episcopal cleric from New York State as the Episcopal bishop of Alaska on September 4. The ceremony will take place at a Catholic parish in Anchorage.

Until recently, Lattime was a member of the Episcopal Diocese of Rochester’s Committee for Gay and Lesbian Ministry, which “seeks to further the cause of recognition and legitimization of lesbian and gay relationships within the church and in civil society.” Lattime is married and has three children.

“Catholic churches are consecrated or blessed buildings which have an important theological and liturgical significance for the Catholic community,” the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity notes in its 1993 Directory for the Application of Principles and Norms on Ecumenism. “They are therefore generally reserved for Catholic worship. However, if priests, ministers or communities not in full communion with the Catholic Church do not have a place or the liturgical objects necessary for celebrating worthily their religious ceremonies, the diocesan Bishop may allow them the use of a church or a Catholic building and also lend them what may be necessary for their services.”

There are four Episcopal Church congregations in Anchorage.