Controversial bishop dies
WASHINGTON - Ronald H. Haines, the former bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington who ordained a lesbian priest and presided over the marriage of Vice President Al Gore's daughter, has died. He was 73.
WASHINGTON - Ronald H. Haines, the former bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington who ordained a lesbian priest and presided over the marriage of Vice President Al Gore's daughter, has died. He was 73.
Haines, who served as the bishop of Washington from 1990 to 2000, died from complications with cancer last Friday at his home in Lancaster, Pa., said Cheryl Daves Wilburn, special assistant to the bishop at the diocese.
Haines was an advocate for the ordination of women priests and defended gender equality in the church. Less than a year after becoming bishop, he ordained the Rev. Elizabeth L. Carl, a lesbian, sparking protests. He defended his decision, saying in a statement at the time that Carl was "an able candidate for the ordained ministry."
According to a 1992 article in the Washington Post, one of the bishop's most vocal critics was his wife, Mary, who was vice president of the National Organization of Episcopalians for Life. She even favored her husband's censure, which he narrowly avoided, at a national gathering of bishops.
Haines graduated from the George Mercer Jr. Memorial School of Theology in New York in 1965. He received a master of divinity degree from the city's General Theological Seminary, and earned a master's degree in sacred theology from the seminary.
Haines served in churches in New York and Rutherfordton, N.C., and was named deputy to the bishop of the Diocese of Western North Carolina in 1981.
In 1986, he was elected suffragan bishop of the Washington diocese, which includes D.C. and four Maryland counties.
In 1997, Haines presided over the wedding of Karenna Gore and New York physician Andrew Schiff at the Washington National Cathedral.
He retired in 2000 and returned to parish ministry in Pennsylvania.
In 1994, his son, Thomas Jeffrey, sued an Episcopal priest and other church leaders in North Carolina, saying he had been sexually molested for 12 years. The case was settled out of court.
Besides his son and wife, Haines is survived by five other children. *