Gene Robinson: A controversial figure

Some papers consider the move to be revolutionary, but most fear that it could split the worldwide Anglican community.

Difficult days for the Anglican Church.

Norway's Aftenposten

The election of Gene Robinson is expected to fuel the debate in US society, which is split over the issue of homosexuality and partnerships between people of the same gender.

Sweden's Expressen

Gene Robinson has become the first openly-homosexual bishop in history ... The issue of legalizing same-sex marriages is one of the most pressing in America today ... The topic is of just as much interest to society as the problems of a post-war settlement in Iraq, curbing the nuclear ambitions of North Korea or reviving the US economy.

Russia's Izvestiya

US Episcopalian Church threatens to split.

Germany's Sueddeutsche Zeitung

Declared homosexual elected bishop in the United States ... Split of church family imminent.

Austria's Wiener Zeitung

Prejudice against people with a different sexual orientation than the usual one is at home wherever there are enough fools incapable of differentiating between what is usual and what is normal - and, unfortunately, there are enough of them not only in every Church but in every society. This is why Rev Robinson's elevation to the post of Bishop is an act revolutionary in the true sense of the word ... And we, the Czechs, are - given our atheism or our rather half-hearted Christianity - perhaps the only nation with the Christian tradition not going to be shaken by this.

Czech Republic's Pravo

The Anglican Church, which affiliates almost 80 million worshippers from all continents, is experiencing an earthquake ... The debate on the rights of minorities in the United States, especially of homosexuals, has been given a further stimulus. In US society, in which more than 80 per cent of people are members of multifarious churches, the rights of homosexuals are deeply divisive and are an explosive political issue.

Czech Republic's Mlada Fronta Dnes

The confirmation of the appointment of this controversial bishop is an historic decision ... the US Episcopalian Church is now facing the danger of schism given resistance to Gene Robinson's appointment among the so-called new Anglicans, who are known for their radical conservatism ... The debate on homosexuality in the church and putting gay and lesbian relationships on an equal footing with traditional partnerships is the issue of this year's silly season, especially overseas.

Slovakia's Hospodarske Noviny

Gay bishop tears the Anglican Church ... Gene Robinson's election has provoked an earthquake in the Anglican world.

France's Liberation

The gay bishop has caused a scandal in the Anglican Church ... Jeffrey John [the gay priest who refused to take up his appointment as Bishop of Reading] had declined his own election in light of his scandal, but with the Americans, it's another story.

France's Le Monde

The decision to choose a gay bishop has caused loud protests in the US and worldwide .. because of Rev Robinson's election, the Anglican Church is going through particularly difficult times.

Poland's Gazeta Wyborcza

Anglicans in Kenya threatened to sever links with a US diocese that elected a practising homosexual as its bishop. Church leaders condemned the Americans' decision, saying homosexuality was unacceptable.

Kenya's The Nation

The Anglican Church in Southern Africa (CPSA) is standing by its stance regarding the election of gay bishops, reinforcing the claim that any person who is ordained a priest in the church is eligible for election as a bishop ... The head of the CPSA said sexual orientation was irrelevant, though the CPSA did require that homosexual clergy live celibate lives.

South Africa's Cape Argus

A total of 62 diocesan bishops decided it, out of 107. And then the controversy exploded.

Argentina's El Clarin

The appointment of a gay bishop irritates conservatives.

Brazil's Folha de Sao Paulo

The Anglican Church in Chile rejects the appointment of homosexual bishop in the United States ... Bishop Hector Zavala, chief of the Church in Chile deeply regrets the decision ... it is contrary to the clear teachings of the Holy Scriptures.

Chile's Tercera de la Hora

Several pastors from Honduran Protestant churches have noted that, according to the Scriptures, what has happened at the US Anglican Church with the appointment of a gay bishop to the New Hampshire diocese, is an aberration.

Honduras' Sula Tiempo

BBC Monitoring, based in Caversham in southern England, selects and translates information from radio, television, press, news agencies and the Internet from 150 countries in more than 70 languages.