Gays flay counselling agency for publicising secret information
by Vivienne Green-Evans Observer staff reporter



Staff from WIRED Guidance and Counselling Agency say the agency has come under fire by members of the gay community for disclosing information about the group's location and meeting times during a three-day workshop for Christian counsellors late last month.

WIRED director, Craig McNally told the Sunday Observer that the agency had been threatened with possible court action, but he would not indicate what the specific charges or who his accusers were.

"We have come under fire from persons within the gay community for information disclosed at the conference," McNally said.

The seminar on 'Sexual Brokenness.Truth and Healing', held May 21 to 23, was a public event which attracted dozens of counsellors, church members, students of the theological training colleges and members of the public. WIRED also operates as a Christian public relations agency.


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Spanish bishops urge voters to cast ballot against "lay" parties


Spain's Roman Catholic church leaders urged voters to cast their ballot against resolutely secular parties in European elections Sunday, in a reference to the ruling Socialist Party and
its refusal to back a mention of Europe's Christian roots in the future EU constitution.

The conservative daily El Mundo published extracts of the pastoral letter to be read at Sunday mass in churches in this traditionally Catholic country.

It urges Spaniards to "vote in these elections with Christian beliefs and a Christian conscience", and denounces attempts "to impose totally secular criteria on social and political life, as happened with radical socialism", according to the El Mundo report.


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Episcopal bishop blesses a gay couple
By Julia Duin
THE WASHINGTON TIMES


The bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington conducted a blessing service yesterday for one of the country's top homosexual rights advocates and his partner while protesters stood outside holding crosses swathed in black fabric.

    One day after appearing on worldwide television as one of the lead participants in the funeral for former President Ronald Reagan at the National Cathedral, Bishop John B. Chane officiated at the 90-minute ceremony for the Rev. Michael W. Hopkins, 43, and his partner, John Clinton Bradley, 44.

    About 180 people on hand at St. George's Episcopal Church in Glenn Dale gave the two men a lengthy standing ovation after the bishop pronounced a "blessing of the covenant" and the two men hugged and kissed. Mr. Hopkins, who is pastor at St. George's, was the national president of Integrity, the Episcopal homosexual caucus, for five years.
   
 "You know, for me, this is not something unusual to do," said the bishop, dressed in ornate gold-and-white vestments. "I mean, the church has been gathering to honor covenant relationships since the beginning of its written history."