The Bishop of Down and Dromore, the Right Reverend Harold Miller, rejected the Archbishop of Armagh's claim that if scientific advances prove people are born gay the Church may have to change its teaching about homosexuality.

And, warning that accepting homosexual relationships as normal would open the door to more divisive arguments about other sexual behaviour, Bishop Harold Miller said that the Church of Ireland could never bless gay couples.

Under the leadership of the last primate, Lord Robin Eames, senior churchmen rarely expressed disagreements with the Archbishop of Armagh and the Church largely maintained a single voice within the House of Bishops.

However, the accelerating crisis in the worldwide Anglican Church has exposed deep-seated disagreements about homosexuality and in an interview with the News Letter upon returning from the Lambeth Conference, Bishop Miller detailed his position on the issue.

The Church of Ireland's most prominent evangelical bishop said that he did not believe proving homosexuality to be natural could make any difference to the Church's position: "If it is proven (that homosexuality is natural) it makes no difference at all."

Bishop Miller also said that he saw "no sign" that anyone in the Church of Ireland would bless gay relationships but stressed that non-practicing gay people could be a full part of the Church.

READ THE FULL INTERVIEW WITH BISHOP HAROLD MILLER