The Archbishop of Canterbury has diplomatically ducked out of the controversy about homophobic remarks attributed to the Bishop of Uyo. The full release reads:
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, has spoken of his relief at receiving assurances over news agency reports attributing offensive remarks to the Bishop of Uyo, Nigeria, the Rt Revd Isaac Orama.
“As I said last week, these reports were very concerning and it is a great relief to have had full assurances that the stories were false and should never have appeared. I am grateful that the prospect of the severe offence that would have been caused has now abated”.
Those of us who have worked for American news organizations are still wondering why the News Agency of Nigeria has never formally retracted this story, although the individual reporter did. I don’t think we are likely to find out, though.