Derek Rawcliffe | Early gay bishop, 89

Former Bishop Derek Rawcliffe, 89, the first Church of England bishop to be open about his homosexuality, died Feb. 1 in England. St. Aidan's Church in Leeds will celebrate a requiem Mass for him Sunday.

Mr. Rawcliffe disclosed his homosexuality on television in 1995, when he was serving as an honorary bishop in Ripon and Leeds Diocese. He was dismissed the following year for conducting blessings of same-sex couples.

In an interview with the Yorkshire Post in 1995, Mr. Rawcliffe said he faced the issue of his sexual identity when he was working in Melanesia and realized he loved a young man who had made approaches.

Later, however, Mr. Rawcliffe befriended Susan Speight, who had what he called a "miraculous healing" from a disease that had put her in a wheelchair. He said he asked, "God, do you want me to marry her?" and he did so in 1977. She died in 1989. - AP