Gay Bishop Goes To Alcohol Rehab
In an e-mail written from an alcohol treatment center, the Episcopal Church’s first openly gay bishop, V. Gene Robinson, said he is receiving treatment for alcoholism.For years, Robinson said in the e-mail sent to clergy, he considered it “a failure of will or discipline on my part, rather than a disease over which my particular body simply has no control, except to stop drinking altogether.”
The news, made public Tuesday, caught many Episcopalians by surprise. Robinson, 58, said he checked into the undisclosed center Feb. 1 with the support of his partner, daughters and colleagues.
“I never saw it in any way impact his ministry in the diocese,” said Robinson’s assistant, the Rev. Tim Rich.
Robinson was his predecessor’s top assistant for years and was elected to replace him when he retired in 2003 by clergy and lay people in the diocese. He was confirmed by the national church, causing an upheaval not only in the Episcopal Church, but the worldwide Anglican Communion of which it is part.
