The Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell, left and The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, gather at the General Synod of the Church of England, at Church House to consider a motion which reviews the church’s failure “to be welcoming to LGBTQI+ people” and the harm they have faced and still experience, in London, Thursday, Feb. 9, 2023.
by DANICA KIRKA
The Church of England’s national assembly on Thursday voted to let priests bless same-sex marriages and civil partnerships, while continuing to ban church weddings for the same couples.
Bishops proposed the compromise measure after five years of discussions about the church’s position on sexuality. It was approved by the church’s General Synod, which is made up of bishops, clergy and lay people from around the country, following eight hours of debate over two days at a meeting in London.
The measure included an apology for the church’s failure welcome LGBTQ people. But it also endorsed the doctrine that marriage is between one man and one woman, meaning priests are still barred from marrying same-sex couples.
“I know that what we have proposed as a way forward does not go nearly far enough for many but too far for others,” the Bishop of London, Sarah Mullally, said in a statement. “It is my prayer that what has been agreed today will represent a step forward for all of us within the Church — including LGBTQI+ people — as we remain committed to walking together.”
Jayne Ozanne, a gay rights campaigner and member of the synod, said she was “deeply disappointed” that conservatives had stifled the church’s debate on sexuality. The synod earlier this week rejected an amendment proposed by Ozanne that would have put the issue of marriage equality back on the agenda later this year.
“By continuing to tell LGB people that they cannot hope to get married any time soon in their church or that their desire for sexual intimacy is sinful, we send a message to the nation that few will understand,” Ozanne said on Twitter. “More importantly, it is a message that will continue to cause great harm to the LGBT community and put young LGBT+ lives at risk.”
Same-sex marriage has been legal in England and Wales since 2013, but the church didn’t alter its teaching on marriage when the law changed.
Public opinion surveys consistently show that a majority of people in England support same-sex marriage. But the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, said the church continues to have “deep divisions” on the issue.
The measure approved Thursday endorses a proposal from the church’s bishops to allow clergy to bless the unions of same-sex couples after they marry or have a partnership recognized by civil authorities. But clergy members won’t be required to perform such blessings if they disagree with them.
The blessings are expected to begin later this year after the bishops refine their guidance and issue prayers for the clergy to use.
Welby said last month that he wouldn’t personally bless any same-sex couples because it’s his job to unify the 85 million members of the Anglican Communion around the world. Welby is the spiritual leader of both the Church of England and the global Anglican church of which it is a member.
Still, he celebrated Thursday’s decision.
“It has been a long road to get us to this point,” Welby said in a statement issued jointly with the Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell. “For the first time, the Church of England will publicly, unreservedly and joyfully welcome same-sex couples in church.”
— Pope Francis and the leaders of Protestant churches in England and Scotland have denounced the criminalisation of homosexuality.
Pope Francis said those with “homosexual tendencies” should be welcomed by their churches
Speaking to reporters after visiting South Sudan, the Pope said such laws were a sin and “an injustice”.
He added people with “homosexual tendencies” are children of God and should be welcomed by their churches.
His comments were backed by the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Moderator of the Church of Scotland.
Archbishop Justin Welby and Iain Greenshields, Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, travelled with the Pope to South Sudan where they jointly called for peace in the war-torn country.
It is the first time the leaders of the three traditions have come together for such a journey in 500 years.
Archbishop Welby and Dr Greenshields praised the Pope’s comments during a news conference with reporters on board the papal plane as they travelled from Juba to Rome.
“I entirely agree with every word he said there,” said Archbishop Welby, noting that the Anglican church had its own internal divisions over gay rights.
Last month the Church of England said it would refuse to allow same-sex couples to be married in its churches.
Expressing his own support, Dr Greenshields referred to the Bible, saying: “There is nowhere in the four Gospels that I see anything other than Jesus expressing love to whoever he meets, and as Christians that is the only expression that we can give to any human being in any circumstance”.
Archbishop Justin Welby (right) and the Rt Rev Iain Greenshields (left) expressed their support for the Pope’s comments in a press conference
During the news conference Pope Francis repeated his view that the Catholic Church cannot permit sacramental marriage of same-sex couples.
But he said he supported so-called civil union legislation, and stressed that laws banning homosexuality were “a problem that cannot be ignored”.
He suggested that 50 countries criminalise LGBT people “in one way or another”, and about 10 have laws carrying the death penalty.
Currently 66 UN member states criminalise consensual same-sex relations, according to ILGA World – the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association.
“This is not right. Persons with homosexual tendencies are children of God,” said the Pope.
“God loves them. God accompanies them… condemning a person like this is a sin.”
But some conservative Catholics have criticised him for making comments they say are ambiguous about sexual morality.
In 2013, soon after becoming Pope, he reaffirmed the Catholic Church’s position that homosexual acts were sinful, but added that homosexual orientation was not.
Five years later, during a visit to Ireland, Pope Francis stressed that parents could not disown their LGBT children and had to keep them in a loving family.
— The Church of England has been debating the issue for years
By Harry Farley
Church of England bishops have refused to back a change in teaching to allow priests to marry same-sex couples, sources have told BBC News.
They met on Tuesday to finalise their recommendations after five years of consultation and debate on the Church’s position on sexuality.
Their proposal will be debated at the Church’s equivalent of a parliament – the General Synod – next month.
BBC News spoke to several bishops present at the meeting who said the Church’s teaching that Holy Matrimony is only between one man and one woman would not change and would not be put to a vote.
But the Church confirmed “prayers of dedication, thanksgiving or for God’s blessing” on same-sex couples will be offered following a civil marriage or partnership.
Same-sex marriage has been legal in England and Wales since 2013. But when the law changed, the Church did not change its teaching.
In 2017, the Church of England began an extended consultation period called “Living in Love and Faith”.
In November last year, the Bishop of Oxford became the most senior Church of England bishop to publicly back a change in the Church’s teaching. Although a handful of others supported him, they remained in the minority.
The refusal to propose a vote on allowing same-sex marriage is likely to anger campaigners for change within the Church.
Some have already told BBC News they will ask the synod to strike out the bishops’ proposals next month.
‘Prayers for God’s blessing’
The bishops’ decision puts the Church of England at odds with its Anglican equivalent in Scotland, The Scottish Episcopal Church, and the Presbyterian Church of Scotland, which both allow same-sex weddings.
The Anglican Church in Wales has provided an authorised service of blessing for gay couples but does not allow same-sex weddings in church.
English bishops will recommend that some “prayers for God’s blessing” for gay couples in civil marriages be adopted, the BBC expects.
A controversial church document from 1991 that says clergy in same-sex relationships must remain celibate will be scrapped. And the Church will also issue an apology for the way it has excluded LGBT+ people, BBC News was told by several bishops.
One liberal bishop present at the meeting said there had been “substantial progress”.
“It’s evolutionary,” they said. “It’s not the end of the road.”
A conservative bishop said: “We’re being honest about the fact we’re not of one mind in these issues. But we’re not going to give up walking together.”
‘Deep disappointment’
Charlie Bell (right) and his partner Piotr said they would continue to campaign for the Church to change its teaching on marriage
Charlie Bell, 33, and his partner Piotr Baczyk, 27, live in south east London, where Charlie is a priest. They have been waiting to marry until the church allows gay weddings.
He said they felt a “deep disappointment” that the bishops weren’t proposing a vote on same-sex marriages.
“It leaves same-sex couples in a bit of a limbo and also as second-class citizens,” he told BBC News.
“We’re still saying to gay couples that their relationships are less than relationships between people of opposite sexes.”
However, he said they would continue to campaign for the Church to change its teaching on marrying gay couples.
He said: “This isn’t over. If the bishops think this will resolve the current situation they are very much mistaken.”
The Archbishop of York, the Most Rev’d Stephen Cottrell, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme a friend who was gay had died before he was able to have his civil partnership acknowledged in any way by the Church.
“All that now changes,” he said. “For the first time, people in same-sex marriages, in civil partnerships, they can come to the Church, their relationships can be acknowledged, dedicated, they can receive God’s blessing.
“No, it’s not same-sex marriage, it’s not everything that everybody wants.”
But he said it was a “real step forward” for the Church.
“What I want to emphasise is that with these proposals, people who have entered into a same-sex marriage or who are in a civil partnership will be welcomed into the Church at a service of dedication and acknowledgment of that relationship,” he said. “That is a change from where we are at the moment.”
The Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Rev’d Justin Welby, said the position “reflects the diversity of views in the Church of England on questions of sexuality”.
He said: “I am under no illusions that what we are proposing today will appear to go too far for some and not nearly far enough for others, but it is my hope that what we have agreed will be received in a spirit of generosity, seeking the common good.
“Most of all I hope it can offer a way for the Church of England, publicly and unequivocally, to say to all Christians and especially LGBTQI+ people that you are welcome and a valued and precious part of the body of Christ.”
An Episcopal priest whose election to bishop is being challenged has promised that, if put in power, he will allow for the blessing of same-sex unions in the diocese.
The Rev. Charlie Holt was twice elected bishop coadjutor for the Episcopal Diocese of Florida this year, only to have both election results formally challenged by delegates.
Holt released a statement on Tuesday regarding whether he would allow the blessing of same-sex unions and the ordination of people in same-sex relationships since one reported issue some have with the bishop-elect is his opposition to same-sex marriage.
“To unite with one another and the broader Episcopal Church, we must contend together to move beyond the things that divide us and set a new course in Christian discipleship, congregational renewal and community outreach,” stated Holt.
Holt explained that he would allow “each parish” to decide whether to bless same-sex unions, making it “a matter of conscience and context” in which gay marriage opponents should be respected.
“The pastoral conscience of clergy will be respected across theological difference. No one, progressive or traditional, will be forced, coerced or manipulated to hold or change a matter of conscience,” he said.
Holt added that “potential ordinands and candidates for employment will be welcomed into discernment and calling processes based on their gifts and call to ministry without discrimination.”
“We seek ministers who proclaim a life-changing gospel. Ordination will not be dependent on sexual orientation or political perspective but only on the church’s canonical process of discernment of the mystery of God’s call to sacred orders,” he continued.
For years, several dioceses of The Episcopal Church, including the Florida Diocese, were allowed to prohibit the blessing of gay unions if their diocesan leadership was opposed to it.
However, in 2018, the Episcopal Church General Convention passed Resolution B012, which required all dioceses to allow for same-sex unions, albeit with certain conscience protections for clergy opposed to gay marriage.
Holt cited Resolution B012 in his statement as authoritative, explaining that the conscience protections he was advocating are “in keeping with the spirit and intent of” the resolution.
“I would welcome the opportunity to implement these policies utilizing a collegial process. I am excited to begin a new era in the Diocese of Florida,” he added.
In May, Holt won an election to determine a successor to the diocese’s current bishop coadjutor, the Rt. Rev. Samuel Johnson Howard, who intends to retire next year.
However, a group of 37 clergy and lay deputies argued that the vote was invalid, citing last-minute changes to the voting process and other complications.
In response, The Episcopal Church’s Court of Review investigated the process and filed a report in early August that concluded that Holt’s election had been improperly conducted.
“There is no doubt that the Diocese moved forward in a good faith effort to confront this last-minute challenge. However, as will be shown herein — and as was pointed out to the Diocesan leadership at the time — their decision to convene the Convention without a proper clergy quorum was procedurally and canonically problematic,” reads the report, in part.
“As a result of that decision procedural norms were changed on the fly, and irregularities occurred. It is impossible to say whether any particular irregularity made a material impact on the outcome; however, when taken together these irregularities create seeds of uncertainty that call into question the integrity of the process.”
A second bishop-coadjutor election was held in November, with Holt again winning with a vote of 56 clergy and 79 laity. The minimum needed to win was 56 clergy and 67 laity.
However, a group of 29 clergy and lay delegates who participated in the election disputed the results, arguing that the process was “fundamentally unfair” and included issues like unfairly excluding certain clergy delegates.
The 29 delegates protesting the second election for bishop coadjutor have passed the 25-delegate minimum required to file a formal objection against the results.
FILE – Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, front row, centre right poses for a photo with bishops from around the world at the University of Kent, during the 15th Lambeth Conference, in Canterbury, England, Friday, July 29, 2022. Friction has been simmering within the global Anglican Communion for many years over its 42 provinces’ sharp differences on whether to recognize same-sex marriage and ordain LGBTQ clergy. In 2022, the divisions have widened, as conservative bishops – notably from Africa and Asia – affirmed their opposition to LGBTQ inclusion and demanded “repentance” by the more liberal provinces with inclusive policies.
By Associated Press
Friction has been simmering within the global Anglican Communion for many years over its 42 provinces’ sharp differences on whether to recognize same-sex marriage and ordain LGBTQ clergy. This year, the divisions have widened, as conservative bishops – notably from Africa and Asia – affirmed their opposition to LGBTQ inclusion and demanded “repentance” by the more liberal provinces with inclusive policies.
Caught in the middle of the fray is the archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, who is the top bishop of the Church of England and ceremonial leader of the Anglican Communion, which is one of the world’s largest Christian communities. Welby has acknowledged “deep disagreement” among the provinces, while urging them to “walk together” to the extent possible.
The divide came into the spotlight four months ago at the communion’s Lambeth Conference, typically held once every decade to bring together bishops from the more than 165 countries with Anglican-affiliated churches. It was the first Lambeth Conference since 2008, and the first to which married gay and lesbian bishops were invited.
The conservative primates of Nigeria, Rwanda and Uganda refused to attend, while other bishops who share their opposition to LGBTQ inclusion pushed unsuccessfully for the Lambeth gathering to reconfirm a 1998 resolution rejecting same-sex marriage.
Now those primates, and their allies worldwide, are looking ahead to a conference in Kigali, Rwanda, in April. They’re expected to discuss their dismay at support for same-sex marriage in some Anglican churches and what they see as Welby not taking a tough stand against such marriages.
Welby, in turn, says neither the Lambeth Conference nor he individually has the authority to discipline a member province or impose demands on it.
In Nigeria, Anglican leaders say a formal separation from the global church over LGBTQ inclusion is more likely than ever. They cite Welby’s comments at Lambeth and the subsequent appointment of the Very Rev. David Monteith – who has been part of a same-sex civil partnership since 2008 – as the new dean of the Canterbury cathedral.
Bishop Williams Aladekugbe of Nigeria’s Ibadan North Anglican Diocese said same-sex unions are “ungodly and devilish” and their recognition by some provinces is a major reason “we cannot continue to fellowship with them.”
“If it is going to cause further division, let it be,” Aladekugbe told The Associated Press. “If they don’t worship God the way we worship him, if they don’t believe in what we believe in… let us divide (and) we go our own way.”
Henry Ndukuba, primate of the Anglican church in Nigeria, cited such divisions during an interview with a church-run television network.
The archbishop of Canterbury “is a symbol of unity” in the Anglican Communion, Ndukuba said, but “because of the way things are going, we are not tied to the apron of Canterbury.”
The umbrella group for the conservative bishops is the Global South Fellowship of Anglican Churches (GFSA). Its steering committee is headed by South Sudan Archbishop Justin Badi, and includes archbishops from Bangladesh, Chile, Congo, Egypt, the Indian Ocean region and Myanmar.
At the Lambeth Conference, the committee issued a stern communique – in effect demanding their views on LGBTQ issues hold sway throughout the Anglican Communion and that the “revisionist” provinces be disciplined or marginalized.
That threat was aimed at the provinces which have embraced LGBTQ-inclusive politics – including the Episcopal Church in the United States, and the Anglican churches of Brazil, Canada, New Zealand, Scotland and Wales. For now, the Church of England refuses to conduct same-sex marriages, but some of its bishops want that policy to change.
The GFSA leaders contend that conservative-led jurisdictions are home to 75% of the global Anglican Communion population, which is estimated at 80 to 85 million.
“For too long the Anglican Communion has been driven by the views of the West,” Badi told news media during the conference. “We often feel that our voice is not listened to, or respected.”
In their communique, Badi and his allies stressed they are not defecting. Yet they questioned whether the global Anglican community, under current circumstances, could consider itself a truly unified body.
“If there is no authentic repentance by the revisionist Provinces, then we will sadly accept a state of ‘impaired communion’ with them,” the communique said.
Welby, instead of reprimanding the LGBTQ-inclusive provinces, commended the sincerity of their approach to human sexuality.
“They are not careless about scripture. They do not reject Christ,” Welby said at Lambeth. “But they have come to a different view on sexuality after long prayer, deep study and reflection on understandings of human nature.”
The Most Rev. Michael Curry, presiding bishop and primate of the Episcopal Church, saw this as a breakthrough.
“What shifted in the rhetoric,” he said, “was a genuine acknowledgement that both sides had arrived at their views through serious study of scripture, theology, and modern understanding of human nature.“
The Rev. Chuck Robertson, a top aide to Curry whose dossier includes relations with the Anglican Communion, described Welby’s comments as “a game-changer.”
“It reflects that those who’ve been going beyond traditional teaching have done so with deep care,” Robertson said. “This is something new — a corner had been turned.”
The conservative bishops’ frustrations with Welby intensified in October when Monteith was appointed the new dean of the Canterbury cathedral.<
While Welby did not personally make the appointment, he issued a statement expressing delight at the choice made by a selection panel. Within days, the GSFA steering committee conveyed its dismay.
The announcement “puts in question the seriousness with which (Welby) wants to pursue the unity of the Communion,” the committee said. “We take exception to the Church of England’s accommodation of a person in a same-sex union being appointed to an office of spiritual authority over the flock of God’s people.”
A Rwandan bishop, Alexis Bilindabagabo of the diocese of Gahini, said he condemns the ordination of gay priests because “weak” people shouldn’t stand at the pulpit.
“A gay man must be led, but he should not lead others,” said Bilindabagabo.
LGBTQ activists say most Anglican churches in Africa are led by conservative priests, including many averse to even discussing homosexuality.
“For Uganda, the Anglican church has almost played a leadership role in being intolerant,” said Frank Mugisha, a prominent LGBT leader in the East African country where a lawmaker once introduced legislation seeking to punish some homosexual acts with execution.
In some cases, Mugisha said, Anglican priests take a hard-line stance because they fear losing their flock to more conservative evangelical groups.
In contrast to other Anglican provinces in Africa, the Anglican Church of Southern Africa has considered letting dioceses conduct same-sex marriages, though it has yet to take that step.
The church is based in South Africa – the only African country to legalize such unions – and also represents dioceses in several neighboring countries. It was led for many years by the late Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who was a staunch advocate of LGBTQ rights well as leading foe of apartheid.
The Southern Africa church has been critical of Anglican leaders elsewhere on the continent who support harsh laws against LGBTQ people.
“It is evident that some of the draconian laws in some African countries are in fact violations of human rights and some bishops of the Anglican Church in these countries have openly supported these laws,” said Bishop Allan Kannemeyer, who heads the Diocese of Pretoria.
It’s unclear what lies ahead for the Anglican Communion. The GSFA leaders, in their October statement, say that if Welby does not take the lead in “safeguarding the Church’s teaching,” there may be an opening for conservative bishops to increase their influence.
That topic will likely be paramount at the April meeting in Rwanda, to which GSFA bishops have been invited. It will be hosted by the Global Anglican Future Conference – known as Gafcon – which includes the archbishops of Nigeria, Rwanda and Uganda, as well as leaders of conservative Anglican entities that already have split from the Anglican Communion, such as the Anglican Church in North America.
No one from the Anglican Communion’s head office in London is expected to attend.
“Some in Gafcon see it as a movement for biblical renewal, which is fine, but others as a rival to the Anglican Communion,” said Gavin Drake, the communion’s communications director. ‘There is a growing frustration within the Communion at this ‘political wing’ of Gafcon.”
By the time they meet in April, Gafcon and GFSA members might be further angered by events within the Church of England, whose General Synod will gather in February to consider proposals on same-sex marriage developed during a lengthy discussion process. There’s a possibility of an unprecedented vote allowing Church of England priests to conduct same-sex weddings for the first time.
A significant development came in early November, when Steven Croft, the bishop of Oxford, became the church’s first diocesan bishop to speak in favor of same-sex marriage. He published a 50-page essay urging a lifting of the ban and sent it to all members of the College of Bishops.
At stake, he said, was the Church of England’s claim to serve the whole of society. Its anti-LGBTQ stance “is leading to a radical dislocation between the Church of England and the culture and society we are attempting to serve,” he said.
Five other Anglican bishops have publicly backed Croft’s call for change.
