South African Press Association (Johannesburg)
18 July 2002
Cape Town — Bishop Reginald Cawcutt had always been honest about his sexual orientation, the Lesbian and Gay Equality Project said on Thursday.
He had done much to stimulate thought and debate within the wider Christian and religious community regarding homosexuality, the project said in response to Cawcutt's shock resignation on Wednesday as Cape Town's auxiliary Roman Catholic bishop.
Cawcutt resigned after being implicated in a gay website scandal. His resignation followed allegations first made two years ago by a right-wing Catholic advocacy group in the United States that Cawcutt had compromised his position by being a member of a gay website and e-mail support group for priests.
Cawcutt acknowledged in an article in a Cape Town newspaper last month that he had been involved with the site through his ministry to gays and Aids victims and that he consistently promoted celibacy in the group.
In an official statement prepared for the archdiocese of Cape Town, Cawcutt said he knew that his ministry had not been without controversy.
"I know that I have made mistakes. I know that I have offended and angered some and for that I humbly apologise and beg your forgiveness and understanding," Cawcutt said.
"Because I do not wish to be the cause of any further division in the church -- after 40 years of what I believed to have been service to the Lord, I have resigned as Cape Town's auxiliary bishop and I will continue serving the Good Lord with a lower profile."
The project's acting director Evert Knoesen said in a statement that contrary to general Christian principles, bishops were informally expected to effectively be dishonest about their orientation by not revealing this fact about their lives.
"It would appear that this bishop's honesty was too much for Rome," Knoesen said.
"We regret Cawcutt's resignation, but we understand the tremendous pressure that he was under. It is regrettable that in this matter, just as in relation to HIV/Aids, the Catholic Church would rather choose to deny than to face a challenge."
Knoesen expressed the hope that Cawcutt's honest approach to the challenge ahead within the religious community would not be lost.
Pope John Paul II has accepted Cawcutt's resignation.
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