Good for the Archbishop and the church for getting rid of the nonsensical misinterpretations of the Bible that uphold prejudice. I hope the rest of the Church of Ireland follows his lead which represents the church that Christ wanted, not that of the Pharisees.

As a Northern Irish Anglican living and worshipping in Athens I was rather shocked by Dr Harper's remarks as indeed will be most of the Anglicans in Greece. I don't see how scientific evidence can change the apostolic message which is pellucidly clear about the marriage paradigm - from Jesus himself - and from St Paul on homosexuality. Of course homosexuals are creatures of God and sinners like the rest of us but like any Christian they must keep their proclivities within bounds and be redeemed by Christ's salvific action and the grace of God. They can also visit a psychiatrist if that doesn't work. Hopefully, Dr Harper will clarify what he meant in his English speech as it may have been tailor-made to an English audience whose ambivalence on the issue of homosexuality is the root cause of the present chaos and schism in the Anglican Communion. One thing is now clear: the spiritual leader of the Communion in future must come from the wider church not the Church of England until the latter has come to its senses. Canterbury has surrendered its theological and moral right to rule and can no longer be regarded as primus inter pares.

Flodave, Athens.

How ridiculous! Jesus said NOTHING about homosexuality or same sex marriage. What is the point in lying about it. Those who would destroy the Anglican communion are not nor have they ever been true Anglicans. It's high time those who want to persecute others left the church all together. They are no different than the Pharisees that Jesus spoke of. They are more concerned with religious "laws" than people's lives. How shameful and disgusting! They are not Christians.

Flodave, perhaps rather than talking with fellow closed minded Anglicans (and we aren't all closed minded) why not talk with the Greeks all around you. Ask them to tell you their history, a history in which some of its greatest figures were - gasp - at least bisexual if not homosexual.

The reality is that varying sexual orientations have always been a part of human existence. So, rather than the burden being placed on science to prove a biological aetiology of homosexuality, perhaps the burden should be upon the church to demonstrate why it discriminates against a discernable and rather consistent segment of its flock with no scientific basis and against the tide of history. Homophobia legitimized by religion still remains homophobia.