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Here are some key excerpts from his sermon:

"You may have heard that a Ugandan gay activiist, David Kato, was bludgeoned to death in his home in Uganda. His funeral was on Friday. At his funeral, the officiant - who was an And at the end of the service the villagers refused to bury his coffin. I think it's important to be clear about this; homophobia kills and any church that preaches intolerance is contributing to the very real and deadly consequences of homophobia."

"Two things need to happen to ensure the continued health of the Anglican Communion. First, that we need to be clear about the implications of the refusal by some conservative provinces to engage with Communion processes; this Primates Meeting and the Anglican Covenant. The implication is that the processes set in place in an attempt to placate them - the moratoria- are to all intents and purposes defunct, and should be quietly forgotten. Which is not surprising, because they were legalistic responses to a legalistic approach to the Gospel."

"Secondly, having done that we need to find a way out of the absurd stalemate we are in over human sexuality. We need as a Communion to find a way to recognise that there are a great many Anglican and Episcopalian Christians whose faith and life, and the faith and life of those around them, is deeply enriched by their same-sex relationships. That these relationships are undoubtedly blessed and hallowed in the sight of God. A way which recognises differences of opinion; which does not force those who disagree to abandon their beliefs; but which recognises and celebrates the ways in which the love of Jesus is expressed in the world. Here we are in Ireland, close to a living example of what's possible in extremely complicated issues with flexibility and care. I do not believe that something similar isn't possible within the Anglican Communion. It's time to find that way."

Read the sermon in full below the fold.

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Next Tuesday, 1 February, Presbyterians will elect the successor to Dr Norman Hamilton. The candidate chosen by the denomination's 19 regional presbyteries will then be formally elected Moderator at the Presbyterian General Assembly in June.

Here's the list of ministers shortlisted for the post: Rev Ivan Patterson (Newcastle) and Rev Roy Mackay (Second Comber), who both received nominations in last year's election; and the Rev Joseph Andrews (Ballee, Ballymena), who is also a; Rev Rob Craig (Kilfennan, Londonderry) and Rev Roy Patton (Ballygilbert).

Ivan Patterson (pictured) secured 4 votes in last year's election, which makes him the candidate most likely to end up wearing moderatorial tassels.

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The judge held that, for the purposes of equality law in respect of goods and services, the gay couple's civil partnership should have been considered equivalent to marriage.

Mark Vernon has written about the case here.

The Christian Institute, which provided financial support to the Bulls, offers an alternative perspective along with updates on news coverage of the case.

An evangelical Christian commentator says: "Christian hoteliers are

I'll post links here to some of the big religion and ethics stories of the week, and to some with less obvious connections to faith and values questions. You can add your suggested links to the thread and discuss the top stories of the week. What should we be debating on this week's Sunday Sequence?

Religion stories
Anglican primates meet in .
Practising Muslims will very soon overtake
Women Increasingly Drawn Seven Anglican priests and 300
Worshippers asked to pay for
Study sees global
Being black
Divine dispatches: a
German abuse victims reject

Ethics news
When is a death drug ?
Heresy of Though? Jeremy Clarkson on the
Is Marx
Episcopal Church leader: polygamy
Is this the right GP for the drugs
Hitler vs. Stalin:
Ethical jokes: 'the
The Moral Maze: gay couples in Christian hotels?

Thinking allowed
Reynolds Price,
Are beautiful people more
The beauty-intelligence link: ethical .
How Christians should
The forger's .
Email etiquette: is it time to ditch "Dear ..."

The members of -- officially known as "visitators" -- are the former head of the Catholic Church in England, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor (pictured), Cardinal Sean O'Malley of Boston, Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York, Archbishop Thomas Collins of Toronto, and Archbishop Terence Prendergast of Ottawa.

Update: Northern Ireland's deputy First Minister has also met with members of the Apostolic Visitation today. Martin McGuinness MLA MP said afterwards: ""The abuse of many children and vulnerable young people in institutions over many years and the totally insensitive manner in which this was dealt with has cast a dark cloud over Irish society. There is an onus on us all to ensure that this abuse can never be allowed to happen again and that necessary safeguarding arrangements are put in place to guarantee protection for those who are greatest at risk. The Papal initiative is an important part of the process of putting the needs of victims' first. Those who have perpetrated such heinous crimes must not be protected, but must be subject to the full rigours of the legal process."

Martin McGuinness also referred to the recent announcement by the Executive to set up an interdepartmental taskforce into institutional abuse: "Before Christmas the Executive agreed to hold its own inquiry into institutional child abuse and have established an interdepartmental taskforce to establish the nature and scope of this inquiry. I welcomed the opportunity to update the cardinal on developments and our discussions will no doubt help to inform this debate. While it is imperative that this can be brought to a conclusion as soon as possible, it is also important that the process is got right and that victims' are not subject to further and unnecessary suffering. The needs of victims' and their desire for closure is and will continue to be the over-arching focus of attention throughout the entire process. Those who have suffered abuse will be consulted on the terms of reference for the inquiry."

Former Prime Minister Tony Blair has told the Iraq Inquiry that he believed the war in Iraq was legal and the advice he received from the then Attorney General confirmed that belief. Mr Blair was questioned about earlier advice from Lord Goldsmith which suggested that additional UN backing would be necessary before an attack on Iraq would be legal. Tony Blair now says that original advice was merely "provisional" and that his Attorney General came to accept that military action was sanctioned by UN Security Council Resolution 1441. You can watch Tony Blair give further evidence live here.

Some commentators believe the letter is proof that the Vatican should accept more responsibility for the cover up of abuse allegations that happened in Ireland, and that paper trail now points to the need for a fuller investigation of the role of Pope John Paul II. John Paul is to be beatified by his successor in May. John Paul's defenders say his path to sainthood will be Still others use the term "smoking gun" to describe the significance of the letter's contents.

The details of the letter were made public in an RTE documentary broadcast this week (watch ), which also included excerpts from the diary of an Irish bishop describing the letter as a Vatican instruction to conceal allegations of abuse.

The 1997 letter was first noted by the Murphy Report in its analysis of a culture of concealment within the Irish Catholic Church (, reproduced below the line.)

The Vatican expert John Allen : the letter, he says, "is certainly a public relations embarrassment. As a "smoking gun" proving a Vatican-orchestrated cover-up, however, the letter may fall short'. In coming to that assessment, he makes a clear distinction between reporting abuse and a policy of mandatory reporting. At no point in this letter are Irish bishops instructed to conceal abuse allegations. He also notes that "the 1997 letter was written before the late Pope John Paul II put Ratzinger in charge of the Vatican's response to the sexual abuse crisis in 2001, a decision which Vatican-watchers regarded as a defeat for the more ambivalent line associated with Castrillón Hoyos."

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I'll be using this thread to link to some of the main religion and ethics news stories of the week. You can suggest additional links and comment on the stories that get your attention.

Religion stories
Vatican warned Irish bishops Vatican rejected "mandatory reporting: RTE's
Rome expects 2 million for John Paul II .
Questions about Noah's Ark that may bug .
'Wicked Bible' to go on
Russian Orthodox tirade against
Son Of Jim And Tammy Faye
Alabama governor touches off controversy with
Anglican church offers 'baptism lite' to
Lady Warsi claims Islamophobia is now
Controversial US pastor
Muslim man 'threatened to kill' cousin unless

Ethics news
Andrew Muir: Northern Ireland's
Gay couple wins discrimination case against Christian .
Catholic church uneasy over
Oscars debate: was George VI ?
Justice - A Citizen's Guide on Radio 4.

Thinking allowed
The Bible's Buried Secrets.
On Forgiveness:
Measuring hell: Was modern physics
The Rise of the
Bonhoeffer:

Liam is a good friend of Sunday Sequence and can often be heard reviewing the Sunday papers with me shortly after the 10 o'clock news. He brings a wealth of experience to his new role and the admiration of many journalists throughout Ireland.

In addition to serious political nous, Liam is also a skilled interpreter of the religious cultures of Northern Ireland, which is no mean feat. I wish him well at the Telegraph.

Here are links to some of the main religion and ethics stories of the week (so far). You can also suggest stories worth noting; we might even discuss them on this week's Sunday Sequence.

Religion stories
Apostolic Visitation: Cardinal hears of
At Giffords's Synagogue, Prayers for .
"God sent the shooter": church of hate thanks God for Arizona .
Palin Calls Criticism
Televangelists escape penalty in Senate finance .
Church of England braced for wave of defections to
Be Honest to Godless in the Irish Census,
Metropolitan Tabernacle Pastor James McConnell Plans Rally for .
Massive Karachi rally in support of blasphemy law.
Pakistan: the path of .
Nick Cohen: "Only religious thugs
Mickey Harte: A man of faith on bearing a cross.

Ethics news
Doctors criticise chief rabbi's edict
Sir Elton John has endangered son's welfare, claims
UK could adopt Norway's marriage .

Thinking allowed
Is there something wrong with the scientific ?
A philosopher of God says it's all a .

I don't often post an open thread, but some of you tell me it's a good idea because it lets you get stuff off your chest without throwing the direction of other threads. It also permits you to make suggestions about subjects we might give some more substantial space to on Will & Testament. Let's see. Expatiate at will (sorry about the pun). Keep it legal. The house rules still apply.

Radio 4 began its coverage of the anniversary year last week, with a superb three-part series presented by James Naughtie (listen again here), who writes about his series , and a dedicated special edition of the Sunday programme with contributions from the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, and Dr Ian Paisley (now Lord Bannside). The ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ is also podcasting readings from the King James Bible with introductions from well-known commentators.

There was some debate on Sunday Sequence about whether recognizing a "person of the year" should be seen as a compliment or an endorsement of that person's public record. The simple answer to that question is No. We have named Richard Dawkins in the past, without any endorsement of his New Atheism agenda; it was merely a recognition that he dominated the conversation that year more than most others. By the same measure, 2010 was the Pope's year. Much of the conversation about the Pope was about his role in the clerical abuse scandal and, particularly, his response to the crisis in Ireland. We also debated his apparent change of mind on the use of condoms to limit the spread of HIV, and we charted his developing argument with secularism in Europe and around the world. And the WikiLeaks revelations confirmed what many have thought for some time: the Holy See continues to have significant influence in the international corridors of power.