Appointment of gay clergyman shakes Norway's state church

OSLO, Norway - The selection of an openly gay clergyman in defiance of state Lutheran church guidelines raised concerns Friday that the issue of homosexuality could split the church.

The Church of Norway's highest body, its 85-member national congress, ruled in November 1997 that clergy who enter homosexual partnerships could not hold jobs that require ordination.

However, the Oslo Bishops' Council of clergy and laity voted 4-3 on June 15 to appoint Jens Torstein Olsen as chaplain for the Majorstue Church. Olsen noted on his application that he was living with a gay partner.

The council minority appealed the decision to Trond Giske, head of the churches and education ministry that formally employs state church clergy. He initially said he saw no reason to reverse the council majority's decision, but will make a final decision next month.

If hired, the 51-year-old Olsen would be Norway's first male minister who is openly living with a gay partner.

Oslo Bishop Gunnar Staalsett said he expects the ministry to respect his council's majority, in keeping with usual practice.

''Olsen is clearly the best qualified for the post,'' Staalsett said.

But the move prompted Norway's head bishop, Odd Bondevik, to say he was calling an emergency meeting of the national bishops council on the matter, probably in August.

''The appointment ... can split the Church of Norway,'' he was quoted as telling the Norwegian news agency NTB.

''When we said the issue does not have to be a splitting factor, we assumed that each individual bishop would be loyal to the national church council's resolutions and the church itself,'' Bondevik was quoted as saying.

An anguished debate over gay clergy has already led to bitter disputes within the church.

Last year, Norway's only female bishop, Rosmarie Kohn, faced a revolt by nearly one-third of her own clergy when she allowed openly lesbian Siri Sunde to return to the pulpit. Sunde had been barred after she married her female companion.

Gay marriages are legal in Norway, with all the rights of heterosexual marriages except church weddings and the right to adopt.