 The Bishop of Oxford is set to retire on Friday |
The Bishop of Oxford, the Right Rev Richard Harries, has started his last week before retiring from the diocese. He will officially retire on Friday - his 70th birthday - after 19 years service as bishop of the diocese.
The bishop has started the week in the spotlight after telling the Sunday Telegraph that the Bible backs homosexual relationships.
He said they were "congruous with the deepest biblical truths, about faithfulness and stability".
The comments come ahead of next month's General Convention in the USA, a triennial meeting of America's Anglican Church leaders, where the issue is to be debated.
Meanwhile, last Friday, Downing Street announced that the House of Lords' longest-serving bishop had been made a life peer.
A member of the House of Lords since 1993, he will sit as a cross-bencher.
Bishop Harries said: "As Bishop of Oxford I have appreciated, through my membership of the House of Lords, being able to contribute to debate.
"In recent years the role of the House of Lords in scrutinising and revising legislation has become increasingly significant.
"I am glad of the opportunity that this life peerage gives to continue to contribute, from a Christian basis, and alongside others, to the shaping of public policy."
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