Catho-style: Get Religion, May 21, 2013 May 21, 2013
Posted by geoconger in Get Religion, Marriage, Politics, Youth/Children.Tags: Catho-style, Cathos 2.0, France, Le Nouvel Observateur
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Let me draw your attention to this fascinating article in the Parisian weekly news magazine Le Nouvel Observateur about the new generation of Catholics arising in France.
The article « Plongée dans la galaxie “catho-réac-décomplexée” » in Le Nouvel Obs(with a circulation of over 500,000 it is France’s most widely read general information weekly) asks the question who is leading the charge against the Socialist government’s gay marriage agenda — and finds that it is the “cathos 2.0″ generation. The 20-25 year old:
Enfants de Jean-Paul II et de Benoît XVI, … une nouvelle génération catho à la tête haute, grisée par la découverte de la militance, est née, très éloignée de la pudique discrétion de ses aînés.
Children of John Paul II and Benedict XVI, … a new generation of Catholic has arisen, intoxicated by their discovery of militancy that is far different from the modest discretion of their elders.
Deconstructing this article has proven to be a hard task. On the surface the story of the Cathos 2.0 generation is so strong that it cannot be killed by a skeptical or hostile presentation. It is a French man bites dog story — student revolutionaries in Paris as ultramontane Catholics.
On the surface Le Nouvel Obs seems to have framed the story against the interest of the subject. While it allows the young Catholics to tell their own story, the analysis and commentary is drawn from the left — academics and liberal Catholics who bemoan the conservative political and doctrinal views of Cathos 2.0. Nor do we hear from the hierarchy of the Catholic Church in France. This packaging should have made the issues unattractive and painted the subjects in an unsympathetic light. But by the end of the story these young people come off well. You like them.
The article starts off in a critical yet cinematographic mode – – were this a film the opening paragraph would be accompanied by an accordion and perhaps Edith Piaf.
Trois garçons arrivent à Vespa. Un jeune couple veste treillis-capuche-fourrure traverse la place depuis le Café de Flore, situé juste en face. Une grappe de caqueteuses s’approche joyeusement de l’entrée tout en échangeant bises et potins. Une retardataire en talons hauts et breloques diamantées aux oreilles les rejoint en trottinant. Un concert ou un spectacle ? Pas du tout. Comme tous les dimanches soir, la jeunesse chic et branchée de la rive gauche a rendez-vous avec… Jésus ! Le clocher bat le rappel, c’est l’heure de la messe à Saint-Germain-des-Prés.
Dans une église bondée, les jeunes gens, moyenne d’âge 20-25 ans, s’agenouillent devant le saint sacrement comme les bigotes d’autrefois. L’encens brouille la vue, et le choeur entonne un chant latin repris par une assemblée sagement recueillie. Non, nous ne sommes pas chez les traditionalistes de la Fraternité Saint-Pie-X, mais à l’une des cérémonies dominicales destinées à la jeunesse francilienne.
Three boys arrive on a Vespa. A young couple wearing hooded fur jackets crosses the square from the Café de Flore, located just opposite. A cluster of prattling girls happily approaching the entrance while exchanging kisses and gossip. A latecomer in high heels and diamond earrings hurries in. A concert or a show? No. Every Sunday night the chic and trendy youth of the left bank have an appointment with … Jesus! The bell sounds. It is time for Mass at Saint-Germain-des-Prés.
In a crowded church, young people, 20-25 years of age, kneel before the Blessed Sacrament like the bigots of the past. Incense blurs vision and the choir sings a Latin chant taken up by a by the congregation.No, we are not in the traditionalist Society of St. Pius X, but one of the Sunday ceremonies for Catholic youth.
The article continues with this skeptical, near derogatory tone. Traditional Catholic readers are likely to feel the bile rising in their throats as the read the story. Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and act of « les bigotes d’autrefois »?
On les croyait effacés, et de fait ils nous étaient devenus invisibles. Depuis six mois, on les découvre par centaines de milliers battant le pavé sans relâche contre le mariage gay, veillant à la lumière des bougies sur les Invalides, créant happening sur happening grâce à la force de leurs réseaux, formant le gros des troupes de ces défenseurs acharnés de la famille dite traditionnelle.
Were not these people erased from French life? Had they not become invisible? But for six monthshundreds of thousands of them have pounded the pavement tirelessly protesting against gay marriage, lighting candles on the Invalides, creating event after event in the streets on the strength of their social networks, forming the vanguard of defenders of the so-called traditional family.
The presentation and the structure the first three quarters the story follows the conventional secular thinking of the French elites. Yet by the end of the piece you’re hooked by these kids – – their enthusiasm, their excitement, their faith. I cannot tell whether this was an accident or was calculated move to bring the reader on board. Perhaps what we are seeing here is a conscious bait and switch.
How do you get a middle-aged left-liberal secular audience to read a story about a youth movement that detests the values and agenda of the ’68 generation now in power? You do it by couching the story in tropes and phrases that are comfortable to the audience — and then you slip them a story about young attractive — chic — students at France’s elite universities whose faith is changing France and shaking up the French church.
Am I reading too much into this article? What say you GR Readers? For those whose French has faded away since High School, Worldcrunch has a shorter version of this article in English. Beware! The Worldcrunch version is not a translation but a re-write in English and has been de-Francofied for an American audience.
First published in Get Religion.
Bishops denounce Obama blackmail over gay rights: Anglican Ink. April 27, 2013 April 27, 2013
Posted by geoconger in Anglican Ink, Church of the Province of the West Indies, Human Sexuality --- The gay issue, Marriage, Politics.Tags: gay marriage
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The Anglican bishops of the West Indies have urged their governments to hold fast and resist pressure from Britain and the United States to legalize gay rights and gay marriage.
In a statement released on 25 April 2013 following the House of Bishops meeting in Barbados, bishops of the Church the Province of the West Indies (CPWI) reiterated their belief in marriage “defined as a faithful, committed, permanent and legally sanctioned relationship between a man and a woman.”
“The idea of such unions being constituted by persons of the same sex is, therefore, totally unacceptable on theological and cultural grounds,” the bishops said. The CPWI consists of eight dioceses: the Diocese of Barbados, the Diocese of Belize, the Diocese of Guyana, the Diocese of Jamaica and the Cayman Islands, the Diocese of the Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands, the Diocese of the North Eastern Caribbean and Aruba, the Diocese of Trinidad and Tobago and the Diocese of the Windward Islands.
Read it all in Anglican Ink.
Hong Kong push for gay civil rights: The Church of England Newspaper, April 14, 2013 p 7. April 13, 2013
Posted by geoconger in Church of England Newspaper, Civil Rights, Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui, Human Sexuality --- The gay issue, Marriage.Tags: Hong Kong, Sexual Orientation Discrimination Ordinance, York Chow Yat-ngok
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Church leaders in Hong Kong have welcomed the proposal for public consultations on a Sexual Orientation Discrimination Ordinance (SODO) that would protect the civil rights of the homosexual community. While declining to speak to the merits of any particular bill, Roman Catholic and Anglican leaders have voiced their general approval of civil rights legislation.
On 1 April 2013 Dr York Chow Yat-ngok, a leading Anglican layman and the former secretary for food and health, took office as chairman of Hong Kong’s Equal Opportunity Commission.
Last month gay activists attacked the appointment of Dr. Chow arguing that his religious principle would prejudice the debate. However Dr. Chow told the South China Morning Post he was a “liberal-minded” Christian and not prejudiced against gay people.
The issue should be handled discreetly. “In the process of legislation, there should be more discussion. Because not everyone would be courageous enough or would choose to disclose their own sexual orientation,” Dr. Chow told Radio Television Hong Kong.
“My religious background is relatively conservative, but even the Anglican Church in England is discussing this issue now,” he said adding that “regardless of what my religious background is or my personal view… these people should not be discriminated against.”
In November 2012 a proposal was put forward in the Legislative Council to launch a public consultation to gauge potential support for SODO. After vigorous debate the motion was defeated and Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying dismissed calls for a consultation in a policy address in January.
Evangelical leaders had voiced concern that SODO would lead to gay marriage. Choi Chi-sum, secretary-general of the Society for Truth and Light, said they were “disappointed” that Dr. Chow had now offered his public support for the ordinance before consulting groups who opposed the legislation.
Created in 1996 the equal opportunities commission has a mandate to work towards the elimination of discrimination on the grounds of sex, marital status, pregnancy, disability, family status and race. This brief should be extended to sexual orientation Dr. Chow said.
Proposed Marriage and Divorce Bill draws church ire: Anglican Ink, April 12, 2013 April 12, 2013
Posted by geoconger in Anglican Ink, Church of the Province of Uganda, Marriage.Tags: Stanley Ntagali
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Archbishop Stanley Ntagali
The Uganda Joint Christian Council (UJCC) has called for the rejection of the Domestic Relations Bill before Parliament arguing that proposals to turn common-law marriages into legally recognized marriages was bad social policy and jeopardized the rights of women.
In a speech delivered on 27 March 2013, the chairman of UJCC, Archbishop Stanley Ntagali — the primate of the church of Uganda – said: “Marriage for us in the Church is not a union of convenience but it is a lifelong partnership that can only be extinguished by the death of the partners.”
Read it all in Anglican Ink.
Marriage is of God, not the state Church of England declares: Anglican Ink, April 9, 2013 April 10, 2013
Posted by geoconger in Anglican Ink, Church of England, Marriage.Tags: gay marriage
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The Church of England has reaffirmed its rejection of gay marriage stating the public blessing of marriage can only take place within the context of a lifelong, monogamous, male-female relationship. Marriage is a gift from God, not a right granted by the state nor cultural construct a paper released today by the church’s Faith and Order Commission entitled “Men and Women in Marriage”
“In calling it a gift of God, we mean that it is not simply a cultural development (though it has undergone much cultural development) nor simply a political or economic institution (though often embedded in political and economic arrangements). It is an expression of the human nature which God has willed for us and which we share. And although marriage may fall short of God’s purposes in many ways and be the scene of many human weaknesses, it receives the blessing of God and is included in his judgment that creation is ‘very good’ (Genesis 1.31). In calling it a gift of God in creation, we view marriage within its wider life-context: as an aspect of human society and as a structure of life that helps us shape our journey from birth to death.”
The report recognizes the existence of same-sex relationships as “forms of human relationships which fall short of marriage in the form God has given us.”
Read it all in Anglican Ink.
Anglican Unscripted Episode 69, March 29, 2013 April 3, 2013
Posted by geoconger in Anglican.TV, Hymnody/Liturgy, Marriage, Popular Culture, The Episcopal Church.Tags: gay marriage, stations of the cross
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In this week’s Anglican Unscripted your hosts discuss what Marriage is… and what Marriage isn’t — and with a combined total of 50 years Marriage experience — you are in safe hands. This is also Holy Week and this gives Kevin and George a chance to look around the Communion to discover how clergy are celebrating.
Some around the Anglican Communion have been told that the Episcopal Church doesn’t sue anybody… well the Episcopal church made it very clear this Easter season that is just wrong; and Kevin and AS Haley discuss the latest barrage from 815 and how it effects every vestry member in the Diocese of South Carolina. Kevin, George, Allan, and Peter pray that this Easter brings you into a closer walk with the Man who left the tomb empty. Comments to AnglicanUnscripted@gmail.com Tweet: AU69
NZ gay marriage commission formed: The Church of England Newspaper, March 3, 2013 p 7. March 23, 2013
Posted by geoconger in Anglican Church of Aotearoa New Zealand & Polynesia, Church of England Newspaper, Hymnody/Liturgy, Marriage.Tags: gay marriage, Ma Whae Commission, Michael Hughes
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The Standing Committee of the General Synod of the Anglican Church of Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia has chartered a theological commission to study gay marriage.
Last week the committee directed the church’s provincial secretary the Rev. Michael Hughes to write to the secretaries of the three branches of the church asking them “to consider and report” on the question “what is a theological rationale for a Christian approach to the blessing and marriage of people in permanent, faithful same gender relationships given the implications thereof on the ordination of people in same gender relationships.”
The three branches: Maori, Pacific Islander and Europeans/Asians, were asked to name three scholars to the commission who were asked to report back to the Standing Committee by year’s end.
The theological commission’s work will also be used to inform the Commission on the Ordination and Blessing of People in Same Sex Relationships (Ma Whea Commission) formed in November 2011 that was asked to provide a “summary of the biblical and theological work done by our Church on the issues surrounding Christian ethics, human sexuality and the blessing and ordination of people in same sex relationships, including missiological, doctrinal, canonical, cultural and pastoral issues.”
The Ma Whae Commission was also charged with finding a way to overcome the veto power to changes in church doctrine granted to each of the three branches and examine “the principles of Anglican ecclesiology and, in light of our diversity, the ecclesial possibilities for ways forward for our Three Tikanga Church”, the implications of the adoption of same-sex blessings to the church’s relations to the wider Anglican Communion, and to address the issue of “what care and protection there would be for those who could be marginalized” by the changes.
The Ma Whae Commission has been asked to report its findings to the General Synod/te Hinota Whanui by 2014.
TEC marriage task force formed: The Church of England Newspaper, February 24, 2013 p 7. March 23, 2013
Posted by geoconger in Church of England Newspaper, Marriage, The Episcopal Church.Tags: Gay Jennings, Katherine Jefferts Schori
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The Presiding Bishop and President of the House of Deputies of the Episcopal Church have named 12 people to serve on the church’s Task Force on the Study of Marriage.
In a statement released on 14 Feb 2013, Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori said the group would help the church chart its way forward as it seeks to find a theological rationale for the changes introduced last year. At the July 2012 General Convention the Episcopal Church authorized temporary provisional rites for blessing same-sex unions and authorized a study group to examine the doctrine of marriage.
The presiding bishop explained: “The theology of marriage has evolved over time, with biblical examples including polygamy, concubinage, and other forms of relationship no longer sanctioned in The Episcopal Church.”
“We no longer expect that one partner promise to obey the other, that parents give away their children to be married, or that childbearing is the chief purpose of marriage. This task force is charged not only to take the pulse of our current theological understanding of the meaning of marriage, but to assist the faithful in conversation and discernment about marriage, in particular what the Church might hold up as “holy example” of the love between Christ and his Church.”
While the Episcopal Church has never sanctioned polygamy and concubinage, in the Twentieth century it modified its practices on divorce and remarriage. The aims of marriage as ordered in the 1662 Book of Common Prayer: procreation, remedy for sin, and mutual care, have been reordered in successive American prayer books and are currently given as mutual joy, mutual care and the procreation of children.
President Gay Jennings observed: “The Episcopal Church’s theology and practice of marriage has changed significantly over the centuries, and we need to understand more clearly what we as a church mean when we use that word.”
The 12 member task force, whose members are drawn from the church’s liberal wing, are to deliver their report to the 2015 meeting of General Convention.
Second Church Estates Commissioner rejects govt’s gay marriage bill: The Church of England Newspaper, February 8, 2013 February 14, 2013
Posted by geoconger in Church of England, Church of England Newspaper, Marriage, Politics.Tags: David Cameron, gay marriage, Marriage (Same-Sex Couples) Bill, Parliament, Second Church Estates Commissioner, Tony Baldry
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The Second Church Estates Commissioner, Sir Tony Baldry MP, broke ranks with his party’s leadership this week and spoke against adoption of the Marriage (Same-Sex Couples) Bill.
Rising to speak during the debate following the Second Reading of the Bill, Sir Tony stated that while he would vote against the bill, he wished to thank the government for their assurances that the legislation would protect religious freedom.
Speaking in his capacity as Second Church Estates Commission, Sir Tony said he wanted to “make clear to the House the views of the Church of England on the provisions that the Government have included to safeguard religious freedoms. Let me make it clear that I entirely accept the Government’s good faith in this matter and am appreciative, as is the Bishop of Leicester, who convenes the Bishops in the other place, and as are senior Church officials, of the attempts the Government have made.”
He noted the government was correct in ensuring that “every Church and denomination can reach its own conclusion on these matters and be shielded so far as possible from the risk of litigation” and he accepted the government’s pledge that the “quadruple locks” would protect the rights of the Church of England.
“The so-called quadruple locks are sensible and necessary,” he said, adding the “simple point” is that the Church of England and the Church in Wales “have not wanted anything different in substance from all other Churches and faiths—namely, to be left entirely free to determine their own doctrine and practice in relation to marriage.”
However, Sir Tony noted the Church of England was not a creature of Parliament. While it had a common law duties to marry all parishioners, the issue was rather “complex” as its “canon law remains part of the law of the land and it also has its own devolved legislature which, with Parliament’s agreement, can amend Church legislation and Westminster legislation.”
He noted that in changing marriage, the government was creating a “number of extremely difficult second-order issues. Although the failure to consummate a marriage will still be a ground on which a heterosexual marriage can be voidable, the Bill provides that consummation is not to be a ground on which a marriage of a same-sex couple will be voidable.”
“It also provides that adultery is to have its existing definition—namely, sexual intercourse with a person of the opposite sex. It therefore follows that divorce law for heterosexual couples will be fundamentally different from divorce law for same-sex couples, because for heterosexual couples the matrimonial offence of adultery will persist while there will be no similar matrimonial offence in relation to same-sex marriage. The fact that officials have been unable to apply these long-standing concepts to same-sex marriage is a further demonstration of just how problematic is the concept of same-sex marriage.”
“There is an inevitable degree of risk in all this,” he said. While the “Government believe that this is a risk worth taking. The Church of England does not.” Sir Tony said.
Gay marriage and golf: Get Religion, February 11, 2013 February 11, 2013
Posted by geoconger in Get Religion, Marriage, Multiculturalism.Tags: 24 hueres actu, Andre Chassaigne, Bruno Nestor Azerot, France, gay marriage, Liberation, Martinique, National Assembly, Reunion
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Little news of the gay marriage debate in the French National Assembly has made its way across the Atlantic into the American press. The lack of news coverage could be due to the perception that the outcome is not in doubt. The governing Socialist Party and their allies on the left hold a majority and have directed their members to vote in favor. Or France, being a very foreign country, the goings on way over there are of little concern to the American newspaper audience.
Whatever the reason, the lack of interest is a shame as the debate has been informative, lively and fun to watch. And, some of the arguments being proffered have not been laid before the American public. Let me digress for a moment and bring you up to speed as to where things stand as of this post’s publication.
The story so far — Following last year’s general election victory by the Socialist Party (PS) and its presidential candidate, François Hollande (I have shortened this from François Gérard Georges Nicolas Hollande), the party and its allies on the Left — the Radicals, Communists, etc., began the legislative implementation of their campaign promise to legalize gay marriage and permit gay couples to adopt children. The right has fought the move while social conservative groups — led by the Catholic Church — have mounted a vigorous public protest campaign, culminating in the largest public demonstrations last month in France in the last 30 years.
In the National Assembly, the right, led by the UMP party, proposed 4999 amendments to the bill. After 24 marathon sessions spread over ten days, with many sittings lasting until the small hours of the morning, the National Assembly concluded debate on Friday and a formal vote is scheduled for Tuesday, 12 Feb 2013. The Senate will then take up the bill on 18 March.
Back to GetReligion — When I say the debate has been fun, I mean that it has been vigorous and pointed to a degree seldom seen in the U.S. Americans fed upon the pap of MSNBC or Fox commentators might find the French political debate indigestible — too spicy, too rich. Part of this lies in the stark polarization of French public life. In European eyes there is very little difference between the American Democrat and Republican Parties. While such an observation would baffle most Americans, from a French perspective the difference between the two American parties is miniscule compared to the spread of ideas between the Communists and the extreme Right in France.
And the place of religion in politics is very different in France — some right-wing French groups are ultra-montane Catholics while others are atheists — and there are Catholic Socialists on left (though no Catholic Communists I have found, though friends tell me a few of their seminary professors might qualify).
The right-wing news blog, 24 heures actu, which the Atlantico says
est un média impertinent de droite, radical (sans être extrême), et dans une France bâillonnée par le discours convenu de certaines élites, ça fait du bien !
is an impertinent radical right (though not extreme) publication, and with France gagged by the conventional chatter of its elites, its impertinence is a good thing.
has attacked gay marriage as racist.
Le mariage pour tous serait-il, à l’image du golf, un loisir réservé aux blancs et aux bourgeois ?
Will “marriage for all”, like golf, be a hobby reserved for whites and the bourgeoise?
N.b., “Marriage for all” or “mariage pour tous” is the French equivalent of America’s “marriage equality” — a slogan of the left that seeks to drive the direction of the debate through packaging. But again I digress. Calling “marriage for all” a liberal bourgeois preoccupation that is irrelevant to the lives of “les pauvres, les Noirs, les Arabes, les Asiatiques, les Juifs, les Latinos, les ouvriers et les chômeur”( it is more euphonious in French, but means, the poor, Blacks, Arabs, Asians, Jews, Latinos, and the unemployed), might be dismissed out of hand were it not for the revolt of the black (or should I say Franco-African) Socialist deputies from the Caribbean and Réunion who have broken with the PS and will vote no. The center-left Paris daily Libération reports that none of the black overseas members of the GDR (gauche démocrate et républicaine) of the Front de gauche (Left Front) will support the bill.
Libération cites a speech given to the National Assembly by Bruno-Nestor Azerot, a deputy from Martinique who said in overseas departments, almost all of our population is opposed to this project that “challenges all the customs, all the values” of French citizens. M. Azerot added that it was offensive to link the civil rights movement with the gay rights movement, noting in particular that black slaves could not marry or raise families recognized as legitimate by the state. Marriage for all, he argued would undermine the family and devalue the hard won social and legal rights of France’s former slave populations.
A white PS leader from Réunion (a French overseas department in the Indian Ocean) Jean-Claude Fruteau told Libération he had not received any “negative reaction” from his constituency but added that a demonstration in Saint-Denis-de-la-Réunion organized by the Catholic bishop of the island should not be taken as a sign of the strength of the opposition to the bill. Réunion was a “small department where the Catholic Church has a strong influence,” he said.
Libération explained to its readers why overseas Black deputies would opposed gay marriage by quoting the chairman of the Left Front Group in the National Assembly, Communist Deputy André Chassaigne. In overseas territories, i.e., in departments with a majority black population, the “cultural dimension of family values may be more pronounced, it has a more traditional look.” The overseas deputies were invoking a “family model that was more conservative than in France,” but were “imposing religious practices” and “local circumstances” onto the French national stage.
The Libération article is written from an advocacy perspective — it makes no pretense at being balanced or offering opposing commentary. It quotes the speeches of the black deputies, but offers explanation and interpretation only from the left. The article is framed in such a way to help the newspaper’s liberal readers understand the puzzling phenomena of why blacks, whose rights the Left has always championed, would not return this support on the issue of gay marriage.
Frankly, I would not have expected Libération to have addressed the issue any other way. French newspapers have different standards than American ones. Criticizing Libération for being something that it is not is a pointless exercise, though pointing out its biases to those unaware of the differences between American and European journalism is a necessary task.
My colleagues and I at GetReligion have written hundreds of articles detailing the creeping Europeanization of the American press — where the New York Times and other prominent media outlets engage in advocacy journalism. But unlike the French or British press, they do not admit to their biases. While I would not hold out the European model as the ideal, its unashamed partisanship does allow for a discussion of issues that would never be countenanced in the American press — gay marriage, race (and golf) is one such subject.
First published in GetReligion.
Gay blessings authorised by 3 Canadian dioceses: The Church of England Newspaper, December 9, 2012 p 6. December 12, 2012
Posted by geoconger in Anglican Church of Canada, Church of England Newspaper, Marriage.Tags: Diocese of Edmonton, Diocese of Quebec, Diocese of Rupert's Land, gay marriage
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The Dioceses of Quebec, Rupert’s Land and Edmonton have authorised their clergy to bless same-sex unions.
Last month the Bishop of Rupert’s Land, the Rt. Rev. Donald Phillips announced that he had given his consent to a 20 Oct 2012 resolution endorsed by the diocesan to all gay blessings. Bishop Phillips said he had initially declined to give his consent to the resolution, but had changed his mind, writing “I am now settled that it is pastorally appropriate to proceed.”
Rupert’s Land clergy will not be permitted to solemnize a same-sex marriage, but upon application to the bishop may bless same-sex couples whose marriage has already been “duly solemnized and civilly registered,” Bishop Phillips said.
On 13 October 2012 the Diocese of Edmonton Synod also passed a motion that will allow clergy to bless civilly married same-gender couples on a case-by-case basis. The diocese had permitted clergy to celebrate the existence of gay unions within the context of a Eucharistic service, but the new rules permit parishes to bless these unions.
The marriage service may not be used for these ceremonies, the diocese has told its clergy and each blessing must receive the prior approval of the bishop.
Writing in the December issue of his diocesan newspaper the Bishop of Quebec said he too was authorizing his clergy to perform rites for the blessing of same-sex unions. In his presidential address Bishop Dennis Drainville said the issue of same-sex blessings had been addressed several times by the Canadian General Synod. It had “affirmed the place and the welcome that this church offers to all people—including our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters in Christ—while also recognizing that in the Church, both locally and globally there is no common mind about how to respond to their committed partnerships.”
He noted the General Synod could not come to a “common mind” on this question and had declined to legislate. However, it also “recognized that there are and will be a variety of practises across Canada and in other parts of the Anglican Communion, and because this is so we must continue to talk and pray together as we seek to discern a way forward in accordance of God’s mission in the world.”
This call to conversation and study, the bishop explained, was his mandate for adopting “pastoral” same-sex blessings. Such blessings would not have the force of ecclesial or civil law, he noted: “This act of blessing is not the performing of a marriage but rather the blessing of civil union that has already taken place.”
Other Canadian Anglican dioceses that have approved same-sex blessings include: British Columbia, New Westminster, Edmonton, Niagara, Huron, Ottawa, Toronto, Montreal, and Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island. The Anglican Parishes of the Central Interior (APCI) also passed a motion asking its bishop to allow clergy “whose conscience permits” to bless same-sex unions.
First printed in The Church of England Newspaper.
Church of England says “no” to gay marriages in church: Anglican Ink, December 7, 2012 December 8, 2012
Posted by geoconger in Anglican Ink, Church of England, Marriage.Tags: David Cameron, gay marriage, Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement
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David Cameron
Same-sex marriage is an non sequitur, the Church of England has told Prime Minister David Cameron, stating it will not support his plans for church gay marriages, nor will it allow them to take place in its churches.
In advance of the release next week of the text of the government’s bill authorizing gay marriage, the prime minister said his government was reversing course and would now permit churches to solemnize gay marriages. “I’m a massive supporter of marriage and I don’t want gay people to be excluded from a great institution,” the prime minister said, adding, “but let me be absolutely 100% clear: if there is any church or any synagogue or any mosque that doesn’t want to have a gay marriage it will not, absolutely must not, be forced to hold it,” he said on 7 Dec 2012.
However, the Church of England said the imposition of gay marriage on the country by the coalition government as undemocratic. “Given the absence of any manifesto commitment for these proposals – and the absence of any commitment in the most recent Queen’s speech – there will need to be an overwhelming mandate from the consultation to move forward with these proposals and make them a legislative priority. In our view the Government will require an overwhelming mandate from the consultation to move forward with on these proposals and to make them a legislative priority,” it said in a statement released today.
Read it all in Anglican Ink.
Rules governing the publishing of the banns of marriage changing: Church of England Newspaper, November 29, 2012 December 5, 2012
Posted by geoconger in Church of England, Church of England Newspaper, Marriage.Tags: banns of marriage
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The statutory procedure for publishing banns of marriage is to take effect next month. On 19 Dec 2012, the Church of England Marriage (Amendment) Measure is due to receive Royal Assent. Section 2 of the Measure, which comes into immediate effect, changes the way clergy, parish clerks and all those responsible for publishing the banns of marriage are to proceed.
The new law gives statutory authority for the use of the language for the publication of banns of marriage as contained in Common Worship, providing an alternative form than that contained in the Book of Common Prayer.
Banns must now be published on three Sundays at the “principal service” of a church – under the former law banns were to be published at the “morning service.” The new law also permits the banns to be published at any other Sunday service for three Sundays prior to the marriage.
In a note published by the legal office at Church House, the “principal service” is the “service which, in the opinion of the member of the clergy … is likely to be attended by the greatest number of people who habitually attend public worship.”
“Most parishes have a service on Sundays which will clearly be the ‘principal service’. In many parishes this will be the morning service, or one of the morning services. But in some parishes it may be an evening service. If there is more than one service on a Sunday it is for the person responsible for publishing the banns – usually a member of the clergy – to form a view as to which is likely to be attended by the greatest number of habitual worshippers. The banns must then be published at that service. (It does not matter, for the purposes of the legal requirement, that in the event a greater number of people unexpectedly attend a different service on the Sunday in question.)”
The Legal Office noted that the banns may be published at an additional Sunday service as well, offering the example of a couple that “might only attend an evening service, in which case the banns could additionally be published at the evening service.”
First published in The Church of England Newspaper.
Bishop of Quebec authorizes gay blessings: Anglican Ink, December 1, 2012 December 1, 2012
Posted by geoconger in Anglican Church of Canada, Anglican Ink, Marriage.Tags: Dennis Drainville, Diocese of Quebec, gay marriage
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The Rt. Rev. Dennis Drainville
The Bishop of Quebec has authorized his clergy to perform rites for the blessing of same-sex unions.
In his presidential address to the 2-4 Nov 2012 diocesan synod held in Quebec City, Bishop Dennis Drainville he would “like to proceed in the Diocese of Quebec, as several other Canadian dioceses have done, to provide both a rite of blessing and pastoral support for persons living in committed, same-gender relationships.”
The bishop’s call for gay blessings was put to debate and a motion adopted that read: “This Synod supports the bishop’s wish in his charge to Synod to permit the blessing of same-gender unions in the Diocese of Quebec and requests that he establish a working group to advise him on the implementation guidelines by the beginning of June 2013.”
Opponents of the motion argued the adoption of rites for the blessing of same-sex unions was un-Scriptural and placed the diocese at odds with the mind of the larger Anglican Communion. However, opponents were able to must only 10 votes out of the approximately 70 delegates present.
Read it all in Anglican Ink.
Reporting on gay marriage in Spain: Get Religion, November 9, 2012 November 10, 2012
Posted by geoconger in Get Religion, Marriage, Politics, Press criticism.Tags: ABC, El Mundo, El Pais, gay marriage, Mariano Rajoy Jose Luis Zapatero, Spain
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Laying out the front page of the November 7 issue presented a few problems for the Madrid daily El País. Journalists at Spain’s largest circulation newspaper (345,000) began a walk out this week after management announced that it was cutting 139 of the paper’s 460 posts. Those who still had jobs would see their pay cut by 13 per cent.
Management has had to fill in to keep the paper going and Wednesday presented them with two major stories: the U.S. presidential election and the decision by the country’s constitutional court upholding the country’s gay marriage laws.
Under the headline “El matrimonio gay es constitucional” El País reported that on 6 Nov 2012 eight of the Constitutional Court’s 11 judges rejected a legal challenge to Spain’s gay marriage law introduced in 2005 by the Socialist Party government of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero. The law had been challenged by the People’s Party (PP), which recently took power under its leader Mariano Rajoy.
The article reported that 11 of the court’s 12 justices took part in the decision, and that support for gay marriage was voiced by the 7 liberal judges and 1 of the 5 conservatives – one conservative judge recused himself.
The first few paragraphs of the story are fairly straight forward, recounting the legislative background to the case and summarizing the legal arguments. Paragraphs that indicates the newspaper’s view of the issue round out the story.
El PP prefería amparar legalmente la unión de parejas homosexuales sin darle el nombre de matrimonio para “no generar confrontación social”. Pero la única confrontación social conocida hasta ahora, la única protesta masiva que ha habido en la calle desde la aprobación de la Ley por el Gobierno socialista en 2005 ha sido la de miles de ciudadanos que protestaron contra el recurso del PP y exigieron a Rajoy que lo retirara.
The PP had preferred a law that would give legal protections to gay couples without giving it the name of marriage so as to “not generate social confrontation.” However, the only social confrontation known so far, the only mass protest that has been on the street since the adoption of the Act by the Socialist government in 2005 has been the thousands of protestors who have called upon the PP and Rajoy to withdraw their legal challenge.
The article also has a side bar that discusses the Popular Party’s reactions. However, it does not quote Rajoy or supporters of traditional marriage, but the minority within the PP who support gay marriage. An American analogy would be having a discussion of the Republican Party’s reactions to the gay marriage vote in Maryland through quotes from the Log Cabin Republicans.
What also is missing is any reaction or comment from the Catholic Church – the primary opponent of the gay marriage law. The following day El Pais ran a story that summarized the comments of the bishop of San Sebastián, José Ignacio Munilla on behalf of the Spanish Episcopal Conference – but that was it. There was no attempt in the main story to speak to the objective moral truth claims made by the church about the nature and value of marriage that lay behind the PP’s challenge to the 2005 law.
I should say that such an omission would be deadly for an newspaper article written in the classic liberal style, but El País is not that sort of paper. It follows the European advocacy model — in this case its news is written, unashamedly, from a a left-liberal point of view which espouses the European anti-clerical line.
Religion has no business in the public square, El Pais and most European newspapers believe. This argument is not unknown in the U.S. also. In the Proposition 8 case in California, Federal District Court Judge Vaughn Walker invalidated the California ballot initiative that defined marriage as being between one man and one woman. Judge Walker held the “moral and religious views” behind Proposition 8 were not “rational,” hence it was unconstitutional.
President Barack Obama, a former law professor, has argued that “What our deliberative, pluralistic democracy demands is that the religiously motivated translate their concerns into universal, rather than religion-specific, values.”
While the secularist demands this, democracy does not – nor should journalism. Ignoring the religious arguments in public policy disputes, or dismissing them out of hand is an attack on freedom – religious freedom and democratic freedoms. It is also poor journalism as it omits one of the essential elements of the story.
The solution to this problem in Europe is to take more then one newspaper — El Pais is left liberal and you know what you are getting when you hand over your Euro. ABC and El Mundo are Madrid’s two other quality papers. ABC is conservative and El Mundo center-left. Taken as a job lot a reader gets all sides of the story. Unfortunately in the U.S. newspaper market few if any newspapers acknowledge their biases, and two newspaper towns are few and far between.
What say you GetReligion readers? Is it fair to say that the American press has adopted the European advocacy style — but without admitting its bias? Is El Pais without ABC America’s future?
First printed in GetReligion
Anglican Unscripted Episode 55, November 3, 2012 November 3, 2012
Posted by geoconger in Anglican Church of Canada, Anglican Ordinariate, Anglican.TV, Archbishop of Canterbury, Church of England, GAFCON, Human Sexuality --- The gay issue, Marriage, Property Litigation, Virginia.Tags: Hurricane Sandy
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Anglican Unscripted Hosts Kevin and George talk about Gafcon II and the need for a global Anglican Congress to protect the Communion. You will also learn about Rome’s desire to bring Protestants into the ever expanding Ordinariate. AU also asks you to pray for the victims of Hurricane Sandy and we bring you perspective from skyscraper based storm landfall.
Canon Ashey talks about the dummying down of Scripture and other news from ACC-15. Peter has the latest rumors about the Crown Nomination Committee and Allan Haley discusses the second state to refute the validity of the Dennis Canon. Comments to AnglicanUnscipted@gmail.com #AU54 Please Donate to http://www.anglican.tv/donate
Diocese of Edmonton endorses gay blessings: The Church of England Newspaper, October 21, 2012 p 7. October 25, 2012
Posted by geoconger in Anglican Church of Canada, Church of England Newspaper, Human Sexuality --- The gay issue, Marriage.Tags: Diocese of Edmonton, gay marriage, Jane Alexander
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The Rt Rev Jane Alexander
The Diocese of Edmonton has endorsed gay blessings. At a meeting of its diocesan synod on 13 October 2012 delegates to the Synod voted by strong majorities to accept resolution G-3 “Blessing Same-Gender Committed Unions”. Introduced by the Dean of Edmonton the resolution asked the “Synod request the Bishop to grant permission to any clergy who may wish to offer prayers of blessing for covenanted same-gender relationships.”
In her presidential address to the meeting, Bishop Jane Alexander urged members of the diocese to agree to disagree. “Over the years the church has weathered some pretty divisive and combustible issues,” she noted, citing remarriage after divorce, slavery and the ordination of women.
The church had survived these fights, she asserted because Anglicans had been willing to engage in dialogue and remain united. “Can we see each other as Christ sees us and resolve to be together, to talk together, to pray together?”
Edmonton becomes the seventh of Canada’s 30 dioceses to endorse gay blessings.
First printed in The Church of England Newspaper.
Liberia says no to gay marriage; The Church of England Newspaper, September 30, 2012, p 6. October 5, 2012
Posted by geoconger in Church of England Newspaper, Church of the Province of West Africa, Marriage.Tags: Diocese of Liberia, gay marriage
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Bishop Jonathan Hart of Liberia
The Anglican Bishop of Liberia, the Rt. Rev. Jonathan Hart, has been elected President of the Liberian Council of Churches (LCC). On 14 Sept 2012 the 28th General Assembly of the LCC elected Bishop Hart to a two year term as head of the West African nation’s umbrella organization for Christian churches.
Dr Hart’s first formal action as head of the LCC came within the week when he joined with the head of the National Muslim Council of Liberia (NMCL) and the Inter-Religious Council of Liberia in urging the government of President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf not to allow Liberia to be drawn into disputes over gay marriage and sectarian religious disputes.
The LCC and the NMLS condemned homosexual acts as being contrary to Christian and Muslim doctrines and called upon the government to rebuff foreign pressure to legalize same-sex marriages in Liberia. They also rejected “all forms of attacks on religions and religious personalities” and called upon the press to be circumspect in their reporting and “regard peace as the yardstick against which they must measure the outcome of all their actions.”
First printed in The Church of England Newspaper.
Australian Christian leaders appeal to MPs to reject gay marriage: The Church of England Newspaper, September 16, 2012, p 5. September 20, 2012
Posted by geoconger in Anglican Church of Australia, Church of England Newspaper, Marriage.Tags: Australia, gay marriage, George Pell, Peter Jensen
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The Anglican and Roman Catholic archbishops of Sydney have endorsed a public letter urging the Australian parliament to reject calls to widen the legal definition of marriage to include same-sex couples.
The statement endorsed by Dr. Peter Jensen and Cardinal George Pell and by over 250 other Orthodox, Anglican, Catholic and Protestant clergy comes as parliament in Canberra on 10 Sept 2012 takes up four bills that seek to amend the Marriage Act to permit same-sex weddings under law.
Marriage is the “lifelong commitment and faithful union of one man and one woman. As such, marriage is the natural basis of the family because it secures the relationship between biological parents and their children,” the preamble to the statement declared.
“As Christian leaders” those signing the statement affirmed their “commitment to promote and protect marriage. We honour the unique love between husbands and wives; the vital place of fathers and mothers in the life of children; and the corresponding ideal for all children to know the love and role modelling of a father and mother.’
“Marriage thus defined is a great good in itself, and it also serves the good of others and society, as it has done for thousands of years. The preservation of the unique meaning of marriage is therefore not a special or limited interest, but serves the common good, particularly the good of children.’
They called upon Parliament to “protect this definition of marriage in Australian law, and not change the meaning of marriage by adding to it different kinds of relationships.”
On 16 June 2012 Dr. Jensen released a statement urging Anglicans to lobby their MPs to vote against the proposed amendments to the Marriage Act. He stated the “parliamentary success of this revolutionary re-definition is not inevitable. It will help however if in the near future Christians who wish to stand for marriage, as instituted by God, would thoughtfully and courteously let their views be known to their Federal parliamentary representatives.”
“We should speak up for the sake of love,” he said, “however hard it may be and whatever pressure we may face, we do not love our fellow Australians if, knowing God’s grace and his written will, we do not speak up and point them to God’s plan for the flourishing of human relationships.”
The first votes on the amendments are likely to take place by month’s end.
First printed in The Church of England Newspaper.
Gay marriage rites in trouble at General Convention: Anglican Ink, July 7, 2012 July 7, 2012
Posted by geoconger in 77th General Convention, Anglican Ink, Marriage.Tags: liturgy
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The House of Bishops has punted on the issue of gay marriage rites in the Book of Common Prayer, pushing the potential inclusion of gender-neutral marriage liturgies in the church’s authorized liturgy off until 2021.
The 6 July 2012 vote in the House of Bishops does not derail the issue of gay marriage liturgies, however, as other legislation remains pending before the 77th General Convention meeting 5-12 July 2012 that seeks to authorize “trial rites” for gay marriage. However, the special rules governing passage of trial liturgies makes passage of gay marriage rites uncertain.
In its afternoon session on the second legislative day, the Bishops received Resolution C105 entitled “Marriage Equality” from the Prayer Book, Liturgy and Church Music Committee. The resolution asked the General Convention to “revise the Constitution and Canons of The Episcopal Church with regard to marriage, to reflect the fact that some jurisdictions provide by law, or will provide by law, civil marriage or civil unions for same-gender couples.”
In its explanation for the resolution, C105’s sponsor – the Diocese of Maryland – stated that “since the state of Maryland, other states, and the District of Columbia have made civil marriage available to same sex couples and the 75th General Convention Resolution C056 called for generous pastoral oversight and liturgies to bless these unions, it is time for the Episcopal Church to revise its Constitution and Canons.”
Read it all in Anglican Ink.
Archbishops’ ‘no’ to gay marriage in Australia: The Church of England Newspaper, June 24, 2012 p 5. June 27, 2012
Posted by geoconger in Church of England Newspaper, Anglican Church of Australia, Politics, Marriage.Tags: gay marriage, Peter Jensen, Diocese of Sydney, George Pell, Stylianos Harkianakis
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Peter Jensen
The Anglican, Roman Catholic and Orthodox archbishops of Sydney have urged Christians to reject gay marriage. The “revolutionary re-definition” of marriage was not “inevitable”, Dr. Peter Jensen said in his 17 June 2012 letter, but those “who wish to stand for marriage, as instituted by God, would thoughtfully and courteously let their views be known to their Federal parliamentary representatives.”
In separate letters read to congregations last Sunday, Dr. Jensen, Cardinal George Pell, and Archbishop Stylianos Harkianakis called for the rejection of two private members bills that will amend the Marriage Act introducing same-sex marriage. A social policy and legal affairs committee inquiry report was presented to Parliament on 18 June, but declined to endorse or reject the bills introduced by Australian Greens MP Adam Bandt and Labor MP Stephen Jones.
Archbishop Stylianos urged Orthodox Christians to lobby their representatives in government to vote against the bill. The proposed legislation was ”diametrically against” the teachings of the Christian faith and Greek Orthodox tradition and must be stopped, he said.
Cardinal Pell told Catholics that said same-sex relationships were “contrary to God’s plan for sexuality.” The proposed amendments to the Marriage Act would harm Australia. “Instead of removing discrimination and injustice, [it] will cause them.”
A spokesman for Australian Marriage Equality Alex Greenwich responded the churches’ views were behind the times. ”With polls showing a majority of Australian Christians support marriage equality and with prominent Christians … and a growing number of clergy endorsing the reform, I don’t expect many people will be influenced by their priest this Sunday,” he told the Sydney Morning Herald.
In his letter, Dr Jensen urged Anglicans to “oppose this move as out of keeping both with the word of God and also of the best interests of our community.”
The Anglican archbishop opened his letter by saying it was important that the debate must be civil. “God’s love for all teaches us that we must not be glib or unfeeling as we discuss, pray and act according to our convictions.”
But civility should not be construed as weakness. “Christians are led by the word of God itself to bear witness to our strong commitment to marriage understood as the public joining of two persons of the opposite sex from different birth families through promises of enduring, sustaining and exclusive love, consummated in sexual union.”
Marriage “is one of God’s blessings upon us as a race” the archbishop said, for “through it God allows for the pure expression of our sexual natures, for the faithful companionship of one we love and the opportunity for the nurture of children.”
It was a “tragedy” he said that “marriage is so little understood or honoured and that so many people are denying themselves or others the experience of a public commitment and life-long union.”
“The education of children must not be distorted by the state-imposed idea that a family can be founded on the sexual union of two men or two women as a valid alternative to that of a man and a woman,” Dr. Jensen said, as the call for changing the law “only adds to the confusion by taking a God-given social institution for the creation and nurture of families and extending it to those who by God’s design and by nature cannot be married to each other.”
“This is not a matter of ‘marriage equality’ nor of human rights, since the right to be married extends equally, but only to those who are qualified,” he said.
Debate on the bills is not expected until year’s end, however, as its supporters concede they do not have sufficient support to pass the amendments to the Marriage Act at this time.
First printed in The Church of England Newspaper.
Danish parliament compels state church to offer gay marriages: The Church of England Newspaper, June 24, 2012. June 25, 2012
Posted by geoconger in Church of Denmark, Church of England Newspaper, Marriage.Tags: gay marriage
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The Danish National Church – Den Danske Folkekirke, the state Lutheran church – has been directed by its country’s parliament to begin performing gay church weddings effective 15 June 2012.
Earlier this year the liberal-left coalition government of Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt proposed legislation that would allow same-sex couples to marry in the state church. While gay marriage is legal in Denmark, the state church’s bishops had ruled that the marriage liturgy could not be used for same-sex marriages.
Last week’s vote of 85 to 26 in the Kolketing, the Danish Parliament, directs the bishops to compose a second equal liturgy that would allow same-sex couples to be married by the church.
The new law permits individual priests to refuse to solemnize a gay marriage, but the local bishop must find another priest to perform the service in the recusant’s parish.
The debate within the Kolketing and in the Danish press has divided along calls for justice against Christian teaching and ethics. After the vote, Denmark’s church minister, Manu Sareen, said the decision had been “historic”.
“I think it’s very important to give all members of the church the possibility to get married. Today, it’s only heterosexual couples,” he said.
The leder in the left wing daily Politiken applauded the 7 June 2012. “This resolution is not only a victory for homosexuals, but also for Denmark’s progressive, multifaceted image, which has been keeping a low profile in recent years. At the same time the resolution marks a defeat for the alliance of narrow-minded conservatives and religious sourpusses that held sway under the conservative government.”
However, a church affairs spokesman for the blue alliance, the conservative opposition to the ruling red alliance, denounced the government’s decision to override the bishops on gay marriage.
“Marriage is as old as man himself, and you can’t change something as fundamental,” the party’s church spokesperson Christian Langballe said during the debate. “Marriage is supposed to be between a man and a woman.”
Only three of the country’s ten Lutheran bishops have endorsed the new law and the Bishop of Viborg has warned that by compelling gay marriage, the government risked “splitting the church”.
First printed in The Church of England Newspaper.
Gay church marriage in Denmark: Get Religion, June 8, 2012 June 11, 2012
Posted by geoconger in Church of Denmark, Get Religion, Marriage, Press criticism.Tags: Copenhagen Post, Daily Telegraph, gay marriage, Kristeligt Dagblad, Politiken
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The Telegraph reports that the Danish parliament has passed a law requiring all churches in the Nordic country to perform gay marriages. Clergy may opt not to perform the ceremonies, but church authorities must find a substitute minister to solemnize the marriage.
Strong stuff, if true. Lutherans, Catholics, Anglicans, Reformed, Orthodox and Pentecostal churches will now be compelled to perform gay marriages, the Telegraph reports, even if it is forbidden by their theological views on marriage.
Here is the lede:
The country’s parliament voted through the new law on same-sex marriage by a large majority, making it mandatory for all churches to conduct gay marriages.
Denmark’s church minister, Manu Sareen, called the vote “historic”.
“I think it’s very important to give all members of the church the possibility to get married. Today, it’s only heterosexual couples.”
Under the law, individual priests can refuse to carry out the ceremony, but the local bishop must arrange a replacement for their church.
The article recounts the political battle that led up to the vote, which passed 85 to 26 and offers quotes from supporters of both sides of the debate.
A conservative politician is cited as saying:
“Marriage is as old as man himself, and you can’t change something as fundamental,” the party’s church spokesperson Christian Langballe said during the debate. “Marriage is supposed to be between a man and a woman.”
While the Bishop of Viborg is reported as saying the new law risks “splitting the church”. The government’s religion minister, who is identified as an agnostic, had sharp words for those who disagree with the new law.
“The minority among Danish people, politicians and priests who are against, they’ve really shouted out loud throughout the process.”
While a prominent gay politician offers the obligatory medieval quote:
“We have felt a little like we were living in the Middle Ages,” he told Denmark’s TV2 station. “I think it is positive that there is now a majority for it, and that there are so many priests and bishops who are in favour of it, and that the Danish population supports up about it. We have moved forward. It’s 2012.”
All in all, this is a nicely balanced piece. Views from both sides are offered and the casual reader gets a sense of where the debate lies. However, there is a hole in this story that needs to be filled — which churches will be compelled to perform gay weddings?
The article states that “all churches” will be compelled to perform gay marriages? Is that true? No.
According to the Copenhagen Post this law applies only to the state Lutheran Church. It reported:
The ban on marrying same-sex couples in the Church of Denmark will be overturned in parliament today, as a majority of parties have announced their intention to support a law to make marriage gender neutral.
The law does permit vicars to decline to marry same-sex couples in their church, however. In such cases, couples would need to find another minister to perform the ceremony for them.
Same-sex ceremonies may occur as soon as June 15 should the nation’s bishops, as expected, come up with a ceremony by Monday that can be used to wed same-sex couples in church.
The new ceremony was needed after bishops ruled that the current one can only be used to wed heterosexual couples. But while same-sex and heterosexual couples will be wed using different rituals, their marriage status will be equal.
As Denmark has a state church an informed reader would come to this story with the knowledge that the government would only be able to compel the state church, the Lutheran Church, to perform gay marriages. But knowledge of Danish ecclesial affairs is not something one acquires in the normal course of life — the Telegraph should have been more specific.
It would also have helped to recount the heavy newspaper campaigning by supporters of gay marriage in Denmark. The Danish press has been far from neutral in its coverage of this issue.
A leder in the conservative daily Kristeligt Dagblad had argued that politicians should refrain from obliging the Danish National Church to perform marriage rites between homosexual partners:
Politicians shouldn’t play at being theologians. The Danish National Church should decide for itself what rituals take place within the church. For obvious reasons such a decision will revolve around other factors than equal treatment. … There’s much at stake here, including the historical understanding of wedlock as the foundation of the family, which remains the smallest and most important social unit. The politicians who are making the Church a battleground for party politics should not simply ignore this.
The left wing daily Politiken applauded the vote in a 8 June 2012 leder.
This resolution is not only a victory for homosexuals, but also for Denmark’s progressive, multifaceted image, which has been keeping a low profile in recent years. At the same time the resolution marks a defeat for the alliance of narrow-minded conservatives and religious sourpusses that held sway under the conservative government.
The European press may be able to offer a balanced analysis of the political forces that produced the parliamentary victory for the liberal government. But it largely incapable of relating, even understanding, the religious issues at play.
There is a story here that has yet to be told. The Telegraph reports that one bishop believes this law will split the Danish National Church. The Copenhagen Post reports that only 3 of the 10 Danish bishops back the new law. Something is going to happen — hopefully the press will pick up on this story — and not approach it in the way Politiken has approached the story in parliament.
Images courtesy of Shutterstock.
Episcopal bishops campaign against gay marriage ban: The Church of England Newspaper, May 6, 2012 p7. May 14, 2012
Posted by geoconger in Church of England Newspaper, Marriage, Politics, The Episcopal Church.Tags: Diocese of North Carolina, Franklin Graham, gay marriage, Michael Curry
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A proposed state constitutional amendment that would ban gay marriage has divided North Carolina’s three Episcopal bishops from other church leaders in the state.
Last week Bishops Michael Curry, Clifton Daniel and Porter Taylor released an open letter opposing Amendment 1, which will be put to the voters on May 8.
Their stance puts them at odds with a coalition of conservative church groups and the Vote For Marriage NC coalition. North Carolina law forbids gay marriage, but adding that ban to the state constitution would make it much harder for a court to force the change.
In their letter, the bishops wrote they opposed Amendment 1 “because the love of God and the way of love that has been revealed in Jesus of Nazareth compels us to do so.”
“We oppose Amendment 1 because every time we baptize someone in the Episcopal Church, the entire congregation vows to ‘strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being.’ We oppose Amendment 1 because it is unjust and it does not respect the dignity of every human being in the state of North Carolina. If passed, it will harm not only law-abiding gay and lesbian citizens but other men, women and innocent children in our state,” the three bishops form the church’s liberal wing said.
The Rev. Franklin Graham has recorded a message supporting a proposed amendment to North Carolina’s constitution that would make traditional marriage the only recognized domestic legal union in the state.
North Carolina resident Franklin Graham, the head of Samaritan’s Purse based in Boone released an audio message of support for Amendment 1 on 27 April 2012, urging voters to “take a stand on God’s definition of marriage.” Pollsters predict the ballot initiative will likely be endorsed by a majority of voters.
First printed in The Church of England Newspaper.
Religion law expert: Govt assurances on gay marriage have no legal merit: The Church of England Newspaper, April 29, 2012 p 6. May 6, 2012
Posted by geoconger in Church of England, Church of England Newspaper, Marriage, Politics.Tags: Gas and Dubois v France, gay marriage, Ladelle v Islington Council, Matrimonial Causes Act 1973, Neil Addison
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Neil Addison
The government’s contention that the adoption of gay civil marriage laws would not affect religious marriage is not supported by recent U.K. Court of Appeals and European Court of Human Rights Rulings, religion law expert Neil Addison writes.
“It is fair to say that the entire subject is not as legally straight forward as the Government is suggesting,” Mr. Addison, author of the Religion Law Blog he told The Church of England Newspaper.
“In order to permit same sex couples to marry the Government merely needs to repeal s11(c) Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 which says ‘11 Grounds on which a marriage is void; c)that the parties are not respectively male and female’.”
“However if it does repeal that sub section then those organisations and individuals which are authorised to register Marriage (which of course includes Church of England Priests by virtue of their office) would at that point be obliged to perform Same Sex marriages unless there is a specific statutory exemption,” he said.
The current state of the law, Mr. Addison wrote on his blog was that there was no difference between “Civil” as opposed to “Religious” marriage [as] both are in law the same thing and merely take place in different premises.”
In the case of Gas and Dubois v France 25951/07 the European Court of Human Rights reaffirmed its earlier decision in Schalk and Kopf v. Austria 30141/04 that there is no obligation under the Convention for States to legalise same sex marriage or indeed to legalise same sex civil partnerships, Mr. Addison said.
“The important point,” he told CEN is that under law “you either have same sex marriage which is identical to heterosexual marriage in all respects or you don’t have same sex marriage. What you can’t do is create same sex marriage and then give it different rules.”
While, the government’s consultation states “the legalisation of same sex marriage would ‘make no changes to religious marriages. This will continue to only be legally possible between a man and a woman.’ But this assurance is completely at odds with the European Courts decision in both the Schalk and Gas cases,” he said.
He noted the laws governing marriage in the U.K. would differ from Spain and other countries which had adopted gay marriage. In 2009 the U.K. Court of Appeal in the case of Ladelle v Islington Council held the “orthodox Christian view that marriage is the union of one man and one woman for life” was “not a core part” of the Christian religion.
Given this Court of Appeal precedent, if “Churches are told that they have to be willing to perform same sex marriage ceremonies they will have little legal ground to resist,” he said.
First printed in The Church of England Newspaper.
Religious oppostion to gay marriage “Orwellian” minister says: The Church of England Newspaper, April 29, 2012 p 6. May 6, 2012
Posted by geoconger in Church of England, Church of England Newspaper, Marriage, Politics.Tags: gay marriage, Lynne Featherstone
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Lynne Featherstone MP
Equalities Minister Lynne Featherstone has rejected suggestions Church of England clergy will be compelled to solemnize same-sex marriages, saying it would be the U.K. government, not the church, who would “stand in the dock” to fight any potential EU directive. The minister also chided religious opponents of same-sex marriage their preference of traditional views of marriage over the government’s view was Orwellian.
On 19 April 2012, the member for Esher and Walton, Mr. Dominic Raab (Cons.) asked the minister “What plans she has to bring forward legislative proposals on same-sex marriage.”
She responded that the “Government believe that if a couple love each other and want to commit to a life together, they should have the option of a civil marriage regardless of their gender or sexual orientation.
“Our current priority is the consultation,” she said, which opened on 15 March and runs until 14 June, “and we want to hear from all those with an interest in this matter.”
Mr. Raab stated that whilst he supported the proposal to allow gay civil marriage ceremonies, he was concerned the Human Rights Act 1998 and the Equality Act 2010 may “expose churches and other religious institutions to legal challenge and force them to marry gay couples.”
“Will the Minister give a clear assurance that our churches will not end up in the dock in Strasbourg,” he asked.
Ms. Featherstone stated the government “will ensure that there is no risk of successful legal challenge against religious organisations that do not marry same-sex couples. It would not be religious organisations, but the United Kingdom Government in the dock in Strasbourg. We respect and understand the concerns of religious organisations, and we want to work closely with them to give them that reassurance.”
In response to a question from the member for St Austell and Newquay, Stephen Gilbert (LD), the minister stated the government’s proposal was “not touching religious marriage or redefining marriage. Religious people may continue to believe that marriage can be only between a man and a woman. That is not the state’s view. We do not take the Orwellian view that ‘All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others’.”
First printed in The Church of England Newspaper.
East London vicar sentenced to 4-1/2 years imprisonment for immigration fraud: The Church of England Newspaper, April 13, 2012, p 3. April 17, 2012
Posted by geoconger in Church of England, Church of England Newspaper, Marriage.Tags: Brian Shipsides, Elwon John, immigration fraud
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The Inner London Crown Court has sentenced the Rev. Brian Shipsides to four-and-a-half years imprisonment for immigration fraud.
On 3 April 2012 the court passed sentence on Mr. Shipsides, vicar of All Saints Church in Forest Gate in East London and his co-defendant, Ms. Amdudalat Ladipo, following their 22 Feb 2012 conviction of conspiring to facilitate entry and to obtain indefinite leave to remain in the UK in breach of immigration law by allegedly conducting approximately 200 sham marriages between December 2007 and July 2010.
A second co-defendant, the parish curate the Rev. Elwon John, was exonerated by the court and found to have had no knowledge or role in the immigration fraud scheme
After having received a tip that the parish church was being used to conduct the sham marriages, officers of the Metropolitan Police and the U.K. Border Agency raided the church on 31 July 2010. An examination of the church’s records led to the arrest of the two priests and Ms Lapido.
Ms. Ladipo, who served as the “fixer” – arranging the false marriages between EU residents and immigrants seeking British residency – has been jailed for three years.
According to prosecutors, Mr. Shipsides exploited a “loophole” in British law where those marrying in the Church of England are not required to obtain a certificate of approval from the Home Office ahead of a marriage.
The prosecution stated “most of the so-called couples participating in those marriage ceremonies were not actually couples at all and they were not married in that church because they wished to spend their lives together and sought the blessing of the church upon their union.”
“Rather, it is clear that most of the persons married at All Saints Church, Forest Gate, during the indictment period went through a ceremony of marriage for very different reasons – for the purposes of this immigration scam whose ultimate purpose was to enable one of the persons participating in the ceremony to obtain enhanced rights to enter and live in the United Kingdom,” prosecutor David Walbank told the court.
Mr. Shipsides hid the magnitude of his crimes from his congregation and the diocese by not reading the banns of marriage, and pocketing the fees from the marriage. However, the sharp rise in marriages reported led to questions by the diocese.
“In at least one instance, such a concern was felt about one particular wedding that Rev. Shipsides was instructed [by the diocese] in terms that it should not go ahead,” Mr. Walbank said.
“He responded in due course that he had cancelled that wedding. That was a lie. He had in fact gone ahead and conducted the ceremony despite being instructed not to do so,” the prosecutor said.
Mr Shipsides conduct left the Church of England “open to abuse by those cynical and unscrupulous enough” to exploit marriage laws, he said.
In handing down his sentence, Judge Peter Grobel told Mr. Shipsides: “Your important role in this conspiracy was a disgraceful abuse of your calling as an ordained minister of the Church. This was a conspiracy to breach the United Kingdom’s immigration laws by arranging sham marriages.”
“These marriages took place in your church. Your church where you had been the priest in charge for many years,” the judge said, adding “your criminal conduct appears to have been motivated as much by arrogance as by greed.”
“There really is no mitigation in respect of this type of offending which undermines UK immigration law, threatens the benefit system and exploits the lives of many vulnerable and desperate people,” the judge held.
First printed in The Church of England Newspaper.
Cats, dogs, contraception and Rick Warren: Get Religion, April 12, 2012 April 13, 2012
Posted by geoconger in Get Religion, Marriage, Politics, Press criticism, Roman Catholic Church.Tags: ABC, animal rights, Humanae Vitae, Rick Warren, This Week with George Stephanopolous, USA Today
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Do all dogs go to heaven? Rick Warren thinks so, and he believes cats will enter paradise too according to an interview the mega-church pastor gave to ABC’s Jake Tapper for This Week on Easter Sunday. The influential pastor of Southern California’s Saddleback Churchoffered his views on the immortality of animal souls as well as comments on a wide range of issues including the implications of the Obama Administration’s HHS mandate.
While the ‘doggies in heaven’ angle provided a light touch to the interview, it also opened the door to a potential discussion of the theological and moral questions animating the contraception fight waged by the Catholic Church against the Obama Administration HHS mandate. However, the opportunity was lost to push Rick Warren on the coherency of his theological and political arguments as ABC treated the issue as a joke.
Yes, you heard me right — all ‘dogs go to heaven’ has a bearing on the question of the morality of artificial contraception. But ABC missed it.
Which leads me to ask two questions. Why did they miss it? And even if they were aware of the issue, where they wise to let it go?
Why did they miss it? One reason might be that given by New York Times columnist Mark Oppenheimer. In a recent GetReligion post by my colleague Sarah Pulliam Bailey, Oppenheimer responded to a question about media coverage of religion by saying in part:
It’s not skeptical enough. … We either treat religion with reverence, or we treat is as a human-interest curiosity … the truth is that the mainstream media is not critical enough. It misunderstands religion, sure — but is still oddly hands-off and reverent.
Oppenheimer is right about the media’s treatment of religion as being too soft and too reverent. But it is not for the reason he suggests. Most reporters do not know what questions to ask when speaking to faith leaders, and when they do hear something they often as not do not appreciate its importance.
We can see this in the This Week interview. In a segment entitled “Rick Warren: Contraception Debate About ‘Greater Principle’ of Religious Freedom” Tapper asked Warren several strong questions about his advocacy against the mandate. Warren encapsulated his opposition to the mandate stating that while he had no objections to contraception, he did believe:
There is a greater principle, and that is do you have a right to decide what your faith practices? I would be just as opposed to someone making a law that says every Jewish deli now has to serve pork. Well, I would be — I would protest that. Why? There are 100 other delis you can get pork at. Why do I have to insist that the Jewish delis also serve pork? There’s plenty of places to get contraceptives.
Tapper’s political radar, skills and experience were evident when he questioned Warren. At one point Warren stated:
… Most or many religious organizations insure themselves. We insure ourselves here at Saddleback Church. I have 350 staff. We have a self-insurance program, where we do our own insurance. So we’re basically robbing from ourselves to pay for ourselves.
TAPPER: But weren’t you already required to do this under California law?
WARREN: That’s not the issue. The issue is on a national level, on a national level, to start limiting churches and their organizations, the church and organizations — or any organizations, whether it’s Christian or not, in what they believe that that limits what they do with their school or their health care, that is a violation of the First Amendment, in my opinion.
Let me say I am not examining the merits of Warren’s answers, but applauding Tapper’s skill in asking the right questions that served to draw out the implications of Warren’s thinking.
But a second segment, where Tapper asked questions of Warren submitted by audience members, showed the Oppenheimer effect in action. In her blog, USA Today’s Cathy Lynn Grossman commented on the theological exchange between Tapper and Warren. She wrote:
Early on in the interview, ABC invited folks to raise questions on social media and one viewer tweeted a query: if “faith in Jesus Christ is the only way to heaven.”
Warren, a Southern Baptist, keyed in on the essentials of salvation — a personal acceptance of Jesus Christ. He told the tweeter, “I do believe that. And I believe that because Jesus said it… Jesus said ‘I am the way.’.. I’m betting my life that Jesus wasn’t a liar.”
Warren explained that God’s grace is the only ticket, that our works on earth cannot earn heavenly passage, although, he joked, “Most of us want to have enough.. good works to get into heaven, but enough bad works to be fun.”
Bottom line, says Warren, “I’m not getting to heaven on my integrity. I’m not getting to heaven on my goodness. I’m getting to heaven on what I believe Jesus said is grace…”
Grossman then stated these words were:
“evangelical gospel. But where Warren goes next may not be. Tapper relays a Facebook question: Do dogs go to heaven?
Said Warren, “Absolutely yes. I can’t imagine God not allowing my dog into heaven.”
Cats, too, Warren added. “Why not.”
The “Why not” answer Warren gave to cats in heaven could also have served as a great link back to the issue of the HHS mandate. For the theology that animates Humanae Vitae, the papal encyclical that sets forth the Catholic Church’s teaching on contraception, is informed by the same issue that is involved in the question about animals in heaven. While I think it safe to say that all traditional Christians, not just Evangelicals, believe in the uniqueness of Jesus Christ, I would disagree with the contention that Evangelicals on the whole object to the proposition that animals go to heaven.
Critics such as Peter Singer have held that Christianity has no moral regard for the welfare of animals. Singer prefaced his account of Christian thought regarding animals with the statement: “To end tyranny we must first understand it.”
But as Oxford theologian Andrew Linzey has noted, there is “an ambiguous tradition” about animals in Christianity. Thinkers as diverse as Aristotle, Augustine, Aquinas, Fenelon, and Kant and have held that animals do not have rational, hence immortal souls. Descartes defended a distinction between humans and animals based on the belief that language is a necessary condition for mind and as such animals were soulless machines (Descartes, Discourse on the Method)
Others theologians, philosophers and writers as diverse as Goethe, St John of the Cross, C.S. Lewis, Bishop Butler, and John Wesley held the opposite view and believed that animals will find a place in heaven. Billy Graham is purported to have said:
I think God will have prepared everything for our perfect happiness’ in heaven. If it takes my dog being there, I believe he’ll be there.
That may be all well and good, you say, but what has any of this to do with the healthcare debate?
As Janet Smith notes in her book, Humanae Vitae: a generation later, in Catholic moral teachings one of the differences between humans and animals is that while animals engage in reproductive sexual congress to create another member of the species, humans engage in procreative sexual intercourse “wherein they cooperate with God to bring into existence a new immortal being.”
The soul of Man is immortal while the soul of an animal is mortal. Thomistic theology holds that animals possess sensate souls that can respond effectively to the environment around them. However, animals do not possess rational souls — being able to reason about reality. The sensate soul is mortal while the rational soul, created in the image of God, is immortal. And it is this distinction between mortal and immortal souls that prevents animals from going to heaven, and prohibits contraception in Catholic moral teaching.
For the Catholic Church, Dr. Smith notes:
sterlization, abortion, contraception, in vitro fertilization, and production of animals for “farming” of organs for transplantation are all permissible for animals. Yet the Church finds none 0f these actions permissible for Man. Again it is because of the nature of Man, not the nature of the biological processes per se, that Man must not interfere with these processes.
When Rick Warren responded “why not” when asked whether there are cats in heaven, it prompted the question of what was distinctive about mankind, and closer to home, what was immoral about contraception. Why privilege one theological view of humanity or of the soul (one Warren admits not sharing) over against another?
Which leads into my second question. Had the reporter recognized the theological linkage between the two issues would it have served any useful purpose to ask this question? On a secular news show should all questions come back to a secular base? Or when interviewing a religious figure, should theological questions be asked that draw out the thinking and beliefs of the subject?
Is the Oppenheimer effect at work here? Is Rick Warren a political leader or a religious leader? Is his theology or methodology coherent? Is that even important? Am I aiming a bazooka at a fly? Should we give religious leaders a pass on their theology and hold them accountable only on their secular beliefs?
What say you GetReligion readers?
First printed in GetReligion.
Gay marriage will not harm the church, dean argues: The Church of England Newspaper, April 6, 2012, p 7. April 10, 2012
Posted by geoconger in Anglican Church of Australia, Church of England Newspaper, Marriage.Tags: Diocese of Brisbane, Peter Catt
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Dean Peter Catt
The Dean of Brisbane has urged the Australian government to legalise same-sex marriage saying it is a question of equal justice that will not harm society.
In a submission to the Australian government’s federal parliamentary inquiry on gay marriage, Dr. Peter Catt, Dean of St John’s Cathedral, broke ranks with his Anglican colleagues and urged adoption of the proposed Marriage Equality Amendment Bill.
Saying he was writing in his private capacity, the dean told parliament that he believed that a foundational principle of society was that “each person is to have an equal right to the most extensive total system of equal basic liberties compatible with a similar system of liberty for all.”
Current laws and the traditional understanding of marriage discriminate against gay couples, he said, noting that marriage was “available to all opposite-sex couples with legal capacity, regardless of any other characteristic”.
“Recognising the union of same-sex couples doesn’t reduce the liberty of other couples to enter into legally- and socially-recognised partnerships – so there is an inherent injustice in preventing same-sex couples from doing so,” the dean argued.
Australia’s Catholic bishops have urged the government to reject the gay marriage bill, while the primate of the Anglican Church in Australia, Archbishop Phillip Aspinall in December said “discussion about changing same-sex marriage laws has been a topic of discussion across the world-wide Anglican communion, and resolutions at the Australian General Synod consistently support marriage between a man and a woman in lifelong union, based on Scripture.”
However, the dean argued that churches would not be forced to marry gay couples under the proposed legislation. Adoption of the bill would also enable Anglican supporters of gay to press for change from within the church. “I believe the inclusion of this provision will provide a position space in which religious groups will be able to have their own internal debates and conversations about their approach to marriage.”
First printed in The Church of England Newspaper.
No gay marriage at St Paul’s Cathedral: The Church of England Newspaper, March 23, 2012, p 7. March 28, 2012
Posted by geoconger in Church of England, Church of England Newspaper, Marriage.Tags: David Ison, gay marriage, Richard Chartres, St Paul's Cathedral
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The Dean of St Pauls, David Ison, and the Bishop of London, Richard Chartres
Dr. David Ison has backed away from a pledge to conduct same-sex blessings at St Paul’s Cathedral.
Speaking to the Times following the announcement of his appointment on 6 March 2012, Dr. Ison, the present Dean of Bradford Cathedral, endorsed the concept of gay marriage. “Marriage doesn’t belong to the Church,” he said.
The new dean said he was encouraged that gay people sought the church’s blessing for their partnerships. “As a Christian who is committed to marriage, I would say that for people to take on board, in their relationships, a commitment to lifelong chastity and being together is actually the best pattern for how to flourish if you’re going to be in a relationship… whether you’re gay or straight.
“I’m encouraged that a good number of gay people want to take on the virtues of marriage. For Christian gay people to model that kind of faithfulness, in a culture which, historically, has often been about promiscuity, is a very good thing to do,” he said.
According to the Times, Dr. Ison said he would continue to provide ceremonies to affirm and pray for homosexual couples. “The Bishops’ regulations say you can do things which are pastorally appropriate… Marriage is an institution, but the definitions of that, and how you get into it, and quite what its responsibilities are, have changed over time,” he said.
However, in an interview with the BBC’s Sunday Programme broadcast on 11 March 2012, Dr. Ison stepped back from his earlier remarks about gay blessings at St Paul’s. Asked by interviewer Edward Stourton about his views on the issues surrounding marriage, the dean said that “marriage is something which we have inherited as an institution and its meaning is defined by custom, practice, theology and law.”
“The government is trying to take a bit of a short cut in saying we just have marriage and open it to same sex couples too,” he said, adding that the Church of England was looking at the question of “how we related the church’s teaching and the doctrine of marriage to the need to be able to order, to express and to affirm gay partnerships … we need to make the virtues of marriage available to gay couples,” Dr. Ison said.
Asked if he would be “happy to conduct a gay marriage at St Pauls?” the dean responded that “there isn’t such a thing as gay marriage.”
“What I have done, once, is to pray for a couple who wanted to see Jesus Christ at the centre of their civil partnership. And I would be glad to do that with the bishop’s permission and within the framework of the guidance of the Church of England,” Dr. Ison said.
First published in The Church of England Newspaper.
Gay marriage ‘nuts’: The Church of England Newspaper, March 9, 2012, p 6 March 15, 2012
Posted by geoconger in Church of England, Church of England Newspaper, Marriage, Politics.Tags: gay marriage, Parliament, Second Church Estates Commissioner
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The Church of England will be making a submission to the government’s consultation on same-sex marriage, the Second Church Estates Commissioner, Mr. Tony Baldry told Parliament last week.
On 1 March 2012, the member for Wellingborough, Mr. Peter Bone, (Con.) asked what “recent representations he has received on the implications for the Church Commissioners of the Government’s plans to introduce same-sex marriage.”
Mr. Baldry stated the Church of England would be making a “detailed submission to the forthcoming consultation exercise, which will provide an opportunity for a more focused critique of what is proposed, including the proposal to distinguish in law between civil and religious marriage.”
In response Mr. Bone asked if it would not be simpler “just to write back and say, ‘Marriage is between a man and a woman so this is completely nuts’?”
The Second Church Estates Commissioner declined to be drawn over the sanity of the government’s plans, but noted that “so far as the Church of England, the Roman Catholic Church and many other faith groups are concerned, marriage is a union between one man and one woman. That is a point that we will be putting forward, I hope, responsibly and clearly in the consultation.”
First printed in The Church of England Newspaper.
Church of Ireland debates sex and Christian belief: The Church of England Newspaper, March 15, 2012 March 15, 2012
Posted by geoconger in Church of England Newspaper, Church of Ireland, Human Sexuality --- The gay issue, Marriage.Tags: Alan Harper, gay marriage, Michael Jackson
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The Archbishops of Dublin and Armagh. Photo: Church of Ireland Press Office
The Church of Ireland has reaffirmed its belief in traditional marriage. In a statement released at the conclusion of a two-day meeting in Ballyconnell, the Archbishops of Armagh and Dublin stated the “church’s position on marriage as being the union of one man and one woman remains constant”.
Approximately 450 members of the Church of Ireland’s General Synod met from 9-10 March 2012 at the Slieve Russell Hotel in Co Cavan at a special meeting of synod called to discuss human sexuality “in the context of Christian belief”.
The meeting had been organized by the Irish House of Bishops in response to the controversy surrounding the revelation that the Dean of Leighlin in July 2011 registered a same-sex civil union with his partner, with the tacit approval of his bishop.
The special two day meeting was not designed to achieve a resolution to the disputes over human sexuality, organizers of the conference told The Church of England Newspaper, but to further debate. The gathering was also closed to the press in order to facilitate the free flow of discussion.
The conference opened with address from Dr. Alan Harper, the Archbishop of Armagh and Dr. Michael Jackson, the Archbishop of Dublin and was followed by round table discussion of the scripture and human sexuality led by Bishop Richard Clarke of Meath and Kildare. After a break for dinner the conference reassembled to hear “storytellers” offer “their personal experiences from gay perspectives.”
A series of seminars were offered on Friday evening and Saturday morning. The Rev Doug Baker, a consultant to the Church of Ireland’s Hard Gospel Committee and instructor at the Church of Ireland Theological Institute, spoke on the topic of handling conflicts within the church, while Mrs. Ethne Harkness and Judge Catherine McGuinness gave an overview of the state of legislation in Northern Ireland and the Republic on civil partnerships and the proposals being put forward by the coalition government on gay marriage.
Two ecumenical participants, Bishop Jana Jeruma-Gringberga of the Lutheran Church in Great Britain and Dr Andrew Goddard of the Church of England led a seminar on the science and psychology of same-sex attraction and gender determination, while Dr. William Olhausen, rector of Killiney Parish, Ballybrack, and Dr Stephen White, Dean of Killaloe in Co Clare spoke to the theological issues at play.
Dr. Bryan Follis, rector of All Saints’ Church, Belfast and the Rev Brian O’Rourke, rector of St Anne’s Church, Shandon in Cork offered differing views on the pastoral care of gay people in congregations. Dr Follis affirmed the church’s traditional teaching on the morality of homosexual behavior, but discussed ways of providing pastoral support to those with a homosexual orientation that reflected the love of Christ while being faithful to his word. Mr. O’Rourke, rector of parish self-described “inclusive church” argued the church should provide the same level of support to gay people that it did to all others, including offering them the opportunity to marry.
Two sets of parents spoke of their experiences with gay children, while the chairperson of Changing Attitude Ireland, Canon Virginia Kennerley and the chaplain at Queen’s University Belfast, the Rev. Barry Forde, spoke on the question whether it was possible to agree to disagree.
On the second day, the Bishop of Down & Dromore, the Rt. Rev. Harold Miller led a study for the conference on the Gospel texts surrounding human sexuality (Matt 5:17-48; Matt 19:3-12; Matt 25:31-46; John 4:1-54), while the Bishop of Kilmore, Elphin & Ardagh, the Rt. Rev. Ken Clarke, discussed Rom 1:8-32 and 1 Cor 1:1-20.
In their statement the archbishops affirmed the conference had seen “substantial conversation reflecting strongly held convictions characterised by clarity of expression without judgmentalism.”
It had been held in a climate of “respectful dialogue” and it was “clear that there is a breadth of opinion in the Church of Ireland on these matters but also a strong sense of the cohesiveness of the church.”
First printed in The Church of England Newspaper.
Chelmsford curate cleared of immigration fraud charges: The Church of England Newspaper, March 2, 2012, p 3 March 7, 2012
Posted by geoconger in Church of England, Church of England Newspaper, Marriage.Tags: Brian Shipsides, Diocese of Chelmsford, Elwon John, immigration fraud
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The Inner London Crown Court has exonerated the Rev. Elwon John of charges that he committed immigration fraud.
The curate at All Saints Church in Forest Gate in East London was found to have had no knowledge or role in the immigration fraud scheme conducted by his co-defendants: the vicar, the Rev. Brian Shipsides, and the fixer, Ms. Amdudalat Ladipo.
On 22 Feb 2012 the court found Mr. Shipsides and Ms. Ladipo guilty of conspiring to facilitate entry and to obtain indefinite leave to remain in the UK in breach of immigration law by allegedly conducting approximately 200 sham marriages between December 2007 and July 2010.
After having received a tip that the parish church was being used to conduct the sham marriages, officers of the Metropolitan Police and the U.K. Border Agency raided the church on 31 July 2010. They found Ms. Lapido at the church, waiting to witness a marriage of friends.
The defendant allegedly tried to dispose of a package she was carrying which the police recovered and found contained forged identity documents. An examination of the church’s records led to the arrest of the two priests. Mr. Shipside entered a guilty plea at the start of the trial, but Mr. John protested his innocence throughout – and has now been acquitted of wrongdoing.
In a statement released after the verdict was handed down, Simon Prankard, senior investigating officer at the UK Border Agency’s London Criminal and Financial Investigation team, said: “This was a long and complex enquiry into what was an organised and sophisticated attempt to cheat the UK’s immigration laws. It was also an unusual investigation, involving a church minister, Brian Shipsides, who was prepared to abuse his position and the trust placed in him by the Church and his community.”
“I hope this case sends out a message that we will not tolerate abuse of our immigration system. Those who facilitate sham marriages are breaking the law and will be held accountable for their actions – no matter who they are.”
First printed in The Church of England Newspaper.
Immigration fraud trial begins for Chelmsford curate: The Church of England Newspaper, February 3, 2012, p 7. February 10, 2012
Posted by geoconger in Church of England, Church of England Newspaper, Crime, Immigration, Marriage.Tags: Brian Shipsides, Elwon John, immigration fraud
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First printed in The Church of England Newspaper.
The trial of a Diocese of Chelmsford clergyman and his accomplice on charges of immigration fraud began last week at the Inner London Crown Court.
The Rev. Elwon John and Amdudalat Ladipo, an illegal immigrant from Nigeria, are accused of having conducted and facilitated approximately 200 sham marriages for a fee to assist illegal immigrants to remain in Britain.
Mr. John (44) is charged with having performed the marriages in concert with the Rev. Brian Shipsides (55) at All Saints Church in Forest Gate in east London, the Crown Prosecution Service told jurors. Ms. Lapido (31) is alleged to have served as the go between the clergymen and the illegal immigrants.
Mr. Shipsides entered a guilty plea at the start of the trial, while the two other defendants have pled not guilty.
On March 13, 2011 the Crown Prosecution Service presented formal charges against the two clergymen and Ms. Lapido of conspiring to facilitate entry and to obtain indefinite leave to remain in the UK in breach of immigration law by allegedly conducting approximately 200 sham marriages between December 2007 and July 2010.
After having received a tip that the parish church was being used to conduct the sham marriages, officers of the Metropolitan Police and the U.K. Border Agency raided the church on 31 July 2010. They found Ms. Lapido at the church, allegedly waiting to witness a marriage of friends.
The defendant allegedly tried to dispose of a package she was carrying which the police recovered and found contained forged identity documents. An examination of the church’s records led to the arrest of the two priests.
In his opening remarks Mr. David Walbank, prosecuting for the Crown stated the case against the defendants involved a “massive and systematic immigration fraud” centered at “one particular parish church in the east of London, All Saints Church in Forest Gate.”
The Crown will seek to prove that over a two-and-a-half year period almost 200 sham marriages were “entered in to for the purpose of immigration” with “most of the so-called couples participated in these marriage ceremonies were not actually couples at all.”
Illegal immigrants “married [to EU residents] in that church not because they wished to spend their lives together and wanted the blessing of the church, most of the persons married there for a very different reason. Their ultimate purpose was to obtain enhanced rights to enter and live in the United Kingdom.”
The trial is expected to last for four weeks. Last week Manchester vicar, the Rev. Canon Patrick Magumba, was jailed for 30 months for having conducted sham marriages at his church in Rochdale. In 2010 the Rev. Alex Brown was convicted of having conducted almost 200 sham marriages at his East Sussex church, while the vicar of St Jude with St Aidan Church in Thornton Heath, Mr. Nathan Ntege, was arrested in August 2011 on suspicion of conducting fraudulent marriages and is awaiting trial.
Manchester vicar jailed for immigration fraud: The Church of England Newspaper, February 3, 2012, p 7. February 10, 2012
Posted by geoconger in Church of England, Church of England Newspaper, Crime, Immigration, Marriage.Tags: immigration fraud, Patrick Magumba
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Canon Patrick Magumba
First printed in The Church of England Newspaper.
A Manchester vicar has been sentenced to two and a half years imprisonment for immigration fraud.
On 26 January 2012 the Bolton Crown Court sentenced the Rev Canon Patrick Magumba following a guilty plea entered last December on one count of conspiracy to facilitate a breach of UK immigration law and to two counts of theft.
Canon Magumba, a Ugandan immigrant and the former Team Vicar for the South Rochdale Team Ministry of St Peter’s, Newbold, St Luke’s Deeplish, and St Mary’s, Balderstone, was found to have conducted 21 fraudulent marriages at St Peter’s and 10 at St Luke’s between April 2008 and February 2011.
On 13 March 2011, the Archdeacon of Rochdale told the congregation of St Peter’s Church that Canon Magumba had been arrested and the rectory and church searched by officers of the UK Border Agency in connection with an investigation of sham marriages in the North West.
The police investigation found the vicar had also pocketed wedding and funeral fees, diverting £5,400 from St Peter’s and £2,908 from St Luke’s.
Magumba showed no emotion as sentence was passed at Bolton crown court on Thursday after he admitted carrying out 28 sham weddings.
As he handed down his sentence, Judge William Morris told Canon Magumba “whatever your motive for facilitating the fraudulent entry into this country of these individuals, neither you or anyone else in your place can place your conscience above the laws of this country. Your offences have brought scandal to the church and let down your family and parishioners.”
Sex and circulation: Get Religion, January 14, 2012 January 15, 2012
Posted by geoconger in Church of England, Get Religion, Marriage, Press criticism.Tags: Camilla Duchess of Cornwall, Daily Mail, divorce, Prince of Wales
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Jimmy Swaggart
There is nothing like a good sex scandal to boost circulation. A quick glance at the covers of the magazines offered for sale at your grocery store will confirm the maxim that sex sells. The escapades of film stars, royalty, and sports heroes have long been a staple of this genre, (politicians too, but they do not generate the same intensity of interest).
In recent years we have seen reality TV stars Paris Hilton, the Kardashian sisters and so forth — people who are famous for being famous — rise to pictorial prominence. But one of the staples of this genre that never seems to fade is the vicar sex scandal.
Every so often there will be a U.S. press feeding frenzy about naughty vicars — Jimmy Swaggart, Ted Haggard, Jim Bakker, John Corapi — but this is one area where in quality and quantity the English press continues to outshine America.
The naughty Church of England vicar caught with his pants down with a member of the choir is a story that never seems to grow old. The Daily Mail, which loves these stories, ran one the other day with the title “Queen’s chaplain takes a blonde from the church choir as his third wife (what would the royal flock say?)”
Here is the opening:
He is a senior Church of England cleric and Queen’s chaplain who has written guides to marital harmony. But the Reverend Canon Andrew Clitherow’s own affairs of the heart are causing quite a stir in his parish. He has divorced his second wife, Rebekah, and taken a third bride, Nicola, a glamorous soprano.
His congregation is in uproar and so is the local bishop. For Canon Clitherow, 60, is said to have assured the diocese there was no one else involved when he split from the second Mrs Clitherow last year. Now, less than a year later, the father of four has married Nicola Howard, 44, who has sung worldwide and released several albums. She has moved into the sprawling Georgian vicarage with him.
Although he is still at home, the Canon is no longer performing any church duties and is said to be on ‘sick leave’. Parishioners say his latest marriage to the mother of three is yet another episode in a bizarre clerical soap opera which began last year and is ruining the reputation of the church.
We then learn the details of Canon Clitherow’s personal life. He married his first wife in 1982 and they had two children, but they divorced in 2002. He married his second wife that year, a women he had first met in 1992 when she was a high school student and he the chaplain of her school. This marriage also produced two children, but in March 2011 he announced to the congregation that he was divorcing a second time.
The Mail lets us know that rumors at the church swirled around this second divorce, with tongues wagging about the vicar’s affair with a blonde divorcee who was a member of the choir. At the time of his divorce the vicar informed his bishop that the marriage had broken down but that there was no other person involved. The vicar went on sick leave following Easter services, citing stress as the culprit — and then married the blonde divorcee at a private ceremony at a registry office over the Christmas holidays.
The story makes great play with Canon Clitherow’s having written a number of marriage manuals as well as his position as one of Queen Elizabeth’s chaplains — a very great honor in the Church of England. It also offers the voices of angry members of the congregation, who want their thrice married layabout vicar — who continues to draw a salary and live in the rectory but does no work — to be gone from their parish as he is an “embarrassment”.
So you have it — a sex scandal (with pictures of the glamorous blonde) that one can read with moral relish and no embarrassment. Too embarrassed to read about the trashy behavior of the Kardashians? Here is the genteel option, a Daily Mail story that allows the reader to be titillated and express opprobrium at someone who should have known better. What fun!
Now criticizing these sorts of stories is akin to taking a shovel to a souffle. This story has no pretense to being a morally improving tale or a work of cutting edge reporting — it is celebrity/gossip journalism. But in my secret heart I would have liked to hear something from the man’s bishop or some church voice to explain what exactly is wrong with this picture.
What is the Church of England’s view on divorce and remarriage? What is its view on divorce and remarriage of the clergy? There is a religion ghost here that could have been addressed without making the story too heavy.
I noticed one item — the timing of the first divorce in 2002. With the introduction of civil divorce and civil marriage in the nineteenth century, the Church of England was able to bear its witness to the evangelical expectation of marriage by refusing remarriage in church to divorced people without absolutely denying marriage to them. This position, though never maintained without some sense of strain, continued to be the official position of the Church of England until November 2002.
Canon Clitherow could not remarry in the church until 2002 — and that coincidentally was the year that he divorced and remarried.
The Daily Mail ran a second story last week that touches upon these issues. “History’s repeating itself: Ex-Archbishop tells of the Queen’s ‘despair’ over Charles’s split from Diana and love for Camilla in a revealing new biography” offers excepts of a new biography of the Queen.
A new biography of the Queen reveals for the first time her despair over the divorce of Prince Charles and Princess Diana, and the Monarch’s fears that her eldest son was about to ‘throw everything away’.
In Elizabeth The Queen, by Sally Bedell Smith, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, Lord Carey, recalls the moment that the Queen finally confronted the problems in her son’s marriage. The Archbishop reveals she was terrified that history was about to repeat itself – that Prince Charles would give up his place in the line of succession for Camilla, just as King Edward VIII gave up the throne in 1936 to marry his mistress, Wallis Simpson.
Lord Carey says: ‘There was a moment when we were talking very candidly about divorce. I remember her sighing and saying, “History is repeating itself.” I saw despair. What she was talking about was the Duke and Duchess of Windsor.
‘She was concerned that if they divorced, Charles would marry Camilla. She thought Charles was in danger of throwing everything out of the window by rejecting Diana and forging another relationship.’
In this naughty vicar story there are some strong echoes of the Charles/Diana/Camilla affair — Canon Clitherow after all is a chaplain to the Queen, as well as underlying religion motifs.
In 2005 the Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams refused to marry in a church wedding Charles and Camilla, as conducting a new marriage would be tantamount to consecrating old infidelity. It would be compounding the wrong according to the Church of England’s teaching on remarriage — when the partner in the new marriage has been a significant factor in the breakdown of the old marriage.
The question I ask is how can these be reported? It may be too much to expect People or the Tatler to make these links. But is it beyond the Daily Mail? Is it beyond any newspaper? Given the prevalence of divorce in our culture can this topic even be addressed?
What say you GetReligion readers?
First printed in GetReligion.
Rochdale vicar enters guilty plea in immigration fraud trial: The Church of England Newspaper, December 23, 2011 p 7. December 31, 2011
Posted by geoconger in Church of England, Church of England Newspaper, Immigration, Marriage.Tags: immigration fraud, Patrick Magumba
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Patrick Magumba
First printed in The Church of England Newspaper.
A Manchester vicar is facing imprisonment after pleading guilty to charges of having committed immigration fraud.
On 12 December 2011 the Rev Canon Patrick Magumba entered a guilty plea before the Bolton Crown Court to one count of conspiracy to facilitate a breach of UK immigration law and to two counts of theft.
Canon Magumba, a Ugandan immigrant and the former Team Vicar for the South Rochdale Team Ministry of St Peter’s, Newbold, St Luke’s Deeplish, and St Mary’s, Balderstone, was charged with having conducted 21 fraudulent marriages at St Peter’s and 10 at St Luke’s between April 2008 and February 2011.
On 13 March 2011, the Archdeacon of Rochdale told the congregation of St Peter’s Church that Canon Magumba had been arrested and the rectory and church searched by officers of the UK Border Agency in connection with an investigation of sham marriages in the North West.
A spokesman for the diocese confirmed Canon Magumba had been “questioned by the immigration crime team over irregularities in relation to weddings” and “following proper procedures,” Manchester Bishop Nigel McCulloch suspended Canon Magumba’s “licence to operate as a minister of religion” pending the outcome of the investigation.
The police investigation found the vicar had also pocketed wedding and funeral fees, diverting £5,400 from St Peter’s and £2,908 from St Luke’s. It is not known whether these fees were the proceeds of the fraudulent weddings.
After the plea was entered, Judge Thomas Teague told the cleric that “he must expect to lose his liberty for some time.”
Canon Magumba will be sentenced at Bolton Crown Court on 19 January 2012.
Anglican “no” to gay marriage in Australia: The Church of England Newspaper, December 16, 2011 December 17, 2011
Posted by geoconger in Anglican Church of Australia, Church of England Newspaper, Marriage.Tags: gay marriage, Peter Jensen, Phillip Aspinall
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First printed in The Church of England Newspaper.
Anglican leaders have called for the rejection of the legalization of gay marriage in Australia.
Statements made by the primate, Archbishop Phillip Aspinall of Brisbane, and Archbishop Peter Jensen of Sydney follow upon the 3 Dec 2011 vote by delegates to the Australian Labor Party’s national conference to support gay marriage.
However, the conference also endorsed Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s call to allow ALP MP’s a free vote when amendments to the federal Marriage Act come before parliament next year. While the governing ALP and the Greens support gay marriage, the opposition has instructed its members to vote against the change, while a number of Right Labor MPs have voiced opposition to the change.
In a statement released last week, Dr. Aspinall said that while the Anglican Church “acknowledges and continues to participate” in the national debate over gay marriage, it does so from the position of “commitment to the present definition of marriage in the federal Marriage Act.”
He noted the 2010 General Synod had expressed its “commitment to the present definition of Marriage under Commonwealth Law: that marriage means the union of a man and a woman to the exclusion of all others, voluntarily entered into for life.”
Dr. Aspinall added that while many Anglicans supported state recognition of same-sex civil unions, “changing the definition of ‘marriage’ away from the exclusivity of male and female is not consistent with the Church’s current view.”
The Archbishop of Sydney rejected the philosophical and ethical premise behind the push for gay marriage. In a 3 Dec 2011 statement, he said the ALP had a “proud history” of supporting equality, “so it is disappointing to see it divided over the false rhetoric of ‘equality’ surrounding same-sex marriage.”
The definition of marriage under law “is not a denial of rights,” he said, noting that “issues of inequity regarding the financial and legal status of same-sex relationships have already been addressed by the Parliament and I have supported these changes.”
But the ALP must consider the cost of tinkering with marriage. “Redefining marriage will have unintended and unwelcome consequences for the meaning of parenthood, our openness to other forms of marriage, sex education and our commitment to religious freedom,” Dr. Jensen said.
Scottish Episcopal Church says ‘no’ to same-sex marriage: The Church of England Newspaper, December 9, 2011 p 6. December 14, 2011
Posted by geoconger in Church of England Newspaper, Marriage, Scottish Episcopal Church.Tags: gay marriage
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First printed in The Church of England Newspaper.
The Scottish Episcopal Church does not support the Scottish Government’s proposals to permit civil or religious same-sex marriages.
In a submission filed by its Faith and Order Board on 6 Dec 2011, the SEC said that while there were a wide variety of views on the question of gay marriage within the church, the mind of the church was expressed in its canons. And the Canon on Marriage currently states that marriage is a “physical, spiritual and mystical union of one man and one woman created by their mutual consent of heart, mind and will thereto, and as a holy and lifelong estate instituted of God.”
As such, the SEC could not endorse same-sex marriage, nor permit its facilities to be used to solemnize same-sex marriages. “We do not agree with the introduction of same sex marriage whether religious or civil. The Canon draws no distinction between civil and religious marriage in that respect,” it said.
The issue of same-sex civil partnerships was different, however, as legislation on this point was a “matter for the civil authorities.” However, the SEC stated that under its canons a civil partnership could not be registered through a religious ceremony, nor could clergy serve as registrars for same-sex unions as the “current authorised services include liturgies for marriage but not for same sex unions.”
“If the Parliament passed legislation so that civil partnerships could be registered through religious ceremonies, the Church would require safeguards to ensure such legislation did not require it or its clergy to perform such religious ceremonies,” the SEC said.
Bishop Mark Strange of Moray, Ross & Caithness, the convener of the Faith & Order Board’s working group on the consultation noted the canon on marriage was “clear in its wording” and this had guided the church’s response.
However, the “general issues raised by the consultation document are matters which are already the subject of ongoing discussion within both the Anglican and Porvoo Communions.”
The SEC paper had been presented “in the knowledge of these ongoing discussions” but also has sought to “indicate our canonical position without pre-empting any debate we as a Church are or could be engaged in.”
“The working group thanks those who offered advice and those who offered prayer and I thank the working party for the generous way we worked with each other.”
Matrimonio all’italiana and the taxman: Get Religion, Oct 14, 2011 October 14, 2011
Posted by geoconger in Get Religion, Marriage, Press criticism, Roman Catholic Church.comments closed
Writing the story of the Belgian dockworkers was like eating sand.
Once upon a time he’d persuaded himself that technical facility was its own reward: a sentence singing hymns to the attainment of coal production norms in the Donets Basin was, nonetheless, a sentence, and could be well rendered. It was the writer’s responsibility in a progressive society to inform and uplift the toiling masses.
From Dark Star by Alan Furst
I have my favorites. Writers whose work I turn to again and again for enjoyment, inspiration and to steal phrases. The American novelist Alan Furst is one of the best. He is a superlative craftsman and storyteller — each re-reading of his work offers new insights into the human experience as well as being just plain fun.
To my mind, this passage from his 1991 novel Dark Star illuminates the internal processes of reporting. For every scorcher or exclusive, for every fascinating glimpse or profound discussion of life, God or the world — I’ve turned out hundreds of stories on committee meetings, speeches and conventions. The eating sand imagery is quite real to me, as is the sense of pride and pleasure a writer takes in mastering his craft.
A tax story from La Stampa, the Turin-based Italian national daily newspaper is an example of the writer’s craft at its best. I say this not because the story is fascinating, or the topic of international or moral significance, but because the author, Laura Anello, has done a great job with what could have been a tedious story about the wedding business and Italian tax policy.
“Gli sposi sotto il torchio del Fisco” (“Newlyweds under pressure from the taxman”), has a lightness of touch and the story is infused with a wry humor. I especially like her phrasing. However, I do think there is one hole in the story — the religious one.
The story essentially is this. The Palermo Inland Revenue office is sending newlyweds “belated gift … that requires a response” — a tax questionnaire that asks for a full accounting of their wedding expenses. The lede, as translated by Worldcrunch, states:
Life as a newlywed couple is never easy. After months of preparations, the wedding celebrations, and the return from the honeymoon, the new twosome should be set to finally start their new life together. But in Sicily, rather than happily-ever-after, newlyweds run in to a visit from the taxman.
The tax-collection agency for the Sicilian capital of Palermo has launched a crackdown on tax evasion in the lucrative wedding business.
Some 2,000 couples from Palermo who have gotten married in the last five years have received a form from the local tax office requiring a full accounting for every detail of their ceremonies, which in Sicilian tradition tend to be extravagant affairs even if the bride and groom come from modest backgrounds.The newlyweds are required to list who provided flowers, photos, wedding gifts, and the bride’s bouquet, how much they paid and, most importantly, if they have received sales receipts, which are supposed to be mandatory for every sale or service in Italy. Despite the economic crisis, the wedding business is still very successful in Sicily, where an average ceremony costs 25,000 Euros. On the other hand, many dodge taxes. The sales receipts are the proofs that they are paying VAT. Too often they do not.
The story quotes a variety of Sicilian newlyweds who report their experiences of having received false receipts, no receipts or payments in kind from florists, photographers, beauticians, restaurants, car rental agencies and related service providers.
Under pain of a fine for non-compliance and a visit from the Guardia di Finanza, newlyweds must return an itemized form to the tax office. As Italian law does not require consumers to keep receipts, they will not be required to defend the veracity of their wedding tax returns. However, the Treasury wants:
newlyweds to speak with the same voice that they used at the altar to say, ‘I do.’ Speak, denounce, give names, addresses and numbers. And tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth … not claiming the bouquet was made of wild flowers gathered by the groom and catering by the grandmother. If a check on the couple’s bank account finds a discrepancy, there will be trouble. But there is a third way: taking refuge in a series of ‘I do not remembers’. While it is hard to believe in collective amnesia, they could be excused their forgetfulness as there may have been too much emotion before the altar. Or, perhaps, it was a desire to escape.
Given what Ms Anello had to work with, this is very good. It strikes the right tone, offers both sides a voice, while also being crisp and light. My only addition would be to ask, ‘what about wedding fees to the church?’ Is the taxman checking up on this too?
In the Church of England clergy are required to turn over wedding fees to the parish. From time to time stories will appear about a crooked priest pocketing the cash — sending some to jail, while in the US we see stories about tax fraud when clergy don’t report their fee income. Do the churches and clergy of Palermo charge fees? If so, how is this reported?
A line or two about church fees would have rounded this story out nicely. Or, it may well be that Sicilian clergy more honest than florists. What say you GetReligion readers?
First published in Get Religion.
SA church not heretical: The Church of England Newspaper, Sept 9, 2011 p 8. September 14, 2011
Posted by geoconger in Anglican Church of Southern Africa, Church of England Newspaper, Marriage.Tags: gay marriage
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Southern African House of Bishops
First printed in The Church of England Newspaper.
There has been no change to the Anglican Church of Southern Africa’s (ACSA) teaching on human sexuality, a press release from the Provincial Executive Office has confirmed.
The announcement confirming the Southern African church’s fealty to traditional moral teachings comes shortly before the bishops and provincial standing committee debate pastoral guidelines for Anglicans in civil gay marriages—and as the Church comes under attack for heresy.
“ACSA remains committed to upholding the moratoria of the Anglican Communion on the ordination of persons living in a same gender unions to the episcopate; the blessing of same-sex unions; and cross-border incursions by bishops. Similarly, our Church has affirmed that partnership between two persons of the same sex cannot be regarded as a marriage in the eyes of God. Accordingly, our clergy are not permitted to conduct or bless such unions; nor are they permitted to enter into such unions while they remain in licensed ministry,” the 5 September statement said.
The clarification of the Church’s stance on gay bishops and blessings came in response to an “Anathema” pronounced against by the Church by the Ukrainian Orthodox Greek Catholic Church, which accused South African Anglicans of heresy.
The ACSA provincial office noted this church was a schismatic group that had broken off from the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, an Eastern Rite Catholic Church under the jurisdiction of the Pope. It noted this group had also issued anathemas against Popes John Paul II, Benedict XVI, President Barack Obama and “some 20 or so Anglican, Lutheran and other Protestant Churches alongside our own!”
However, the accusations of abandoning church teaching on human sexuality were “riddled with distortions and untruths,” the ACSA provincial office noted.
The ACSA’s discussion of gay civil unions was not a move to affirm the innovation but a pastoral response that needed to be seen in the “context that we are currently exploring appropriate Guidelines to respond to the changing pastoral realities that have followed the Government of South Africa’s introduction of Civil Unions between people of the same gender.”
In his 30 August pastoral letter to the province, Archbishop Thabo Makgoba stated the forthcoming provincial standing committee and Synod of Bishops meetings would address the Pastoral Guidelines question. “Let me underline that this document is not directly about the continuing debate around human sexuality,” the Archbishop said. It sought to affirm the Anglican moratoria on gay bishops and blessings as well as focus “on the human and pastoral realities that we inevitably face in parishes following South Africa’s new legislation.”
He also noted that an advocate and opponent of changing the Church’s teaching on human sexuality would be present at these meetings. Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori of the United States and Archbishop Ian Ernest of the Indian Ocean would join the bishops’ meeting and share their views on these issues.
It is unlikely however that the South African bishops will be able to move forward on the pastoral guidelines, one bishop — who asked not to be named — told CEN.
At the close of their 7-12 February, 2011 meeting in Natal, the Southern African bishops deferred taking action on adopting guidelines for the blessing of same-sex unions, citing legal difficulties and theological divisions within their ranks.
A draft document entitled “Pastoral Guidelines in Response to Civil Unions” was reviewed by the bishops at their September 2010 meeting and distributed to the dioceses. The February 2011 meeting, however, stated the bishops were not able to approve the document. “It is difficult to give blanket guidelines [on same-sex blessings] because the position is starkly at variance in the legal systems of the seven countries where we work,” the bishops said in February.
“We continue to work on creating guidelines in several areas of difficulty raised by the issue of civil unions,” the bishops said. However, the dynamics within the Synod of Bishops have not changed since February, CEN was told, and it is unlikely a document would garner support at this time.
Gay marriage fight brewing in Australia: The Church of England Newspaper, Sep 2, 2011 September 7, 2011
Posted by geoconger in Anglican Church of Australia, Church of England Newspaper, Marriage.Tags: Australian Christian Lobby, gay marriage
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First printed in The Church of England Newspaper.
Australian Church leaders have urged MPs to put the needs of children first and reject proposals to amend the country’s Marriage Act to allow same-sex marriages.
Last week over 50 senior Anglican, Roman Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant church leaders gave their backing to Revising Marriage?, a paper prepared by the Australian Christian Lobby (ACL) and distributed to all MPs that defended the traditional view of marriage as being between one man and one woman.
“The traditional concept of marriage has a place in the law for the purpose of supporting the exclusivity and faithfulness of those biological relationships that result in children,” the paper argued. “Marriage in the law is for the sake of children and society,” the ACL paper stated and should not be changed to “primarily serve the interests of adults.”
Revising Marriage? comes amidst a flurry of political manoeuvring with the Greens and some Labor MPs pushing for a re-write of the country’s marriage laws. The Australian Labor Party’s national conference will take up the issue in November and supporters of same-sex marriage have released a survey that suggests 53 per cent of Australian Christians backed gay marriage.
However, political support for the move appears weak. Queensland Liberal-Nationals senator Ron Boswell handed the government a petition last week with more than 52,000 signatures supporting traditional marriage, and a parliamentary debate showed little desire for change.
In Parliament, 30 MPs spoke in response to Green MP Adam Bandt’s motion asking politicians to test voters’ views on gay marriage. Of those who spoke on 24 August, 18 reported their constituencies were against same-sex marriage, six were in favour and six offered no numbers. Opposition to gay marriage enjoyed cross-party support with a majority of Liberal and Labor constituencies opposing the move.
The 17-page Revising Marriage? reported offered theological, sociological, political and economic defences of traditional marriage. It started from the premise that all members of society should be treated fairly under the law, and noted that the legal protections of marriage were provided to same-sex couples under domestic partnership regulations.
However allowing same-sex marriage would fundamentally alter its meaning, they noted.
“Marriage has a place in the law because a relationship between a man and a woman is the kind of relationship that may produce children. Marriage is linked to children, for the sake of children, protecting their identity and their nurture by a mother and a father. The State would have no interest in the permanence and exclusivity of marriage if it were not the fact that marriage may produce children.”
Changing the nature of marriage to accommodate the ideological desires of adults was wrong, the paper argued. “In redefining marriage, the law would teach that marriage is fundamentally about adults’ emotional unions, not complementary bodily union or children, with which marital norms are tightly intertwined,” the paper said.
While supporters of same-sex marriage argue change the law would harm no one, the ACL paper argues that this “revisionist case reduces marriage to a matter of choice and love between adults” and would harm children and society.
“Marriage is a shared obligation for children,” the paper said. “That marriage has come under stress from a variety of causes over the past 50 years, no-fault divorce included, is no reason for radically altering its core nature, its aspirational value to society that it is the union of a man and a woman to the exclusion of all others, voluntarily entered into for life.”
Endorsing the document were the Anglican bishops of Sydney, Tasmania, Armidale and North West Australia. A spokesman for the Archbishop of Melbourne said Dr Phillip Freier was on leave, however it was her understanding that “he had sought advice from the Social Responsibilities Committee of the Anglican Diocese of Melbourne, and was advised not to sign the ACL petition as worded.”
Croydon vicar arrested on marriage fraud charges: The Church of England Newspaper, Aug 12, 2011 p 4 August 16, 2011
Posted by geoconger in Church of England, Church of England Newspaper, Immigration, Marriage.Tags: immigration fraud
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The Rev. Nathan Ntege
First published in The Church of England Newspaper.
The Diocese of Southwark has confirmed that the vicar of St Jude with St Aidan Church in Thornton Heath has been arrested on suspicion of conducting fraudulent marriages.
“A 52-year-old man was arrested at an address in Thornton Heath on the morning of Saturday 4 June in connection with an investigation into sham marriages in south London,” a UK Border Agency spokesman reported.
The diocese stated Mr. Ntege, who was appointed vicar in 2007 of St Jude and St Aidan in the Croydon archeaconry, had been arrested and released on bail, the “terms of which mean that he is not currently able to undertake public ministry until the investigation is complete.”
A native of Uganda, Mr. Ntege is the chaplain of the Luganda Fellowship, a church organization founded in the 1970’s for Luganda-speaking Anglicans resident in greater London. Luganda-language services are held the first two Sundays of the month at St John’s Waterloo and the last two Sundays at St Jude’s.
Mr. Ntege is the second Ugandan clergyman of the Church of England arrested this year on immigration fraud charges. On March 13, the Archdeacon of Rochdale told the congregation of St. Peter’s Church in Newbold, Rochdale, that their Team Vicar, Canon Patrick Magumba, had been arrested and the rectory and church searched by the UK Border Agency in connection with an investigation of sham marriages in the North West.
Last week two East London clergymen, the Rev. Brian Shipsides and the Rev. Elwon John plead not guilty to conspiring to facilitate breaches of immigration law between December 28, 2007 and August 4 last year. The 200 bogus marriages were alleged by the prosecution to have taken place between EU and non-EU citizens who wished to gain right of address in Britain.
West Indian church rejects call to decriminalize homosexuality: The Church of England Newspaper, Aug 5, 2011 p 5. August 10, 2011
Posted by geoconger in Church of England Newspaper, Church of the Province of the West Indies, Marriage.Tags: Belize, Bishop Philip Wright, homosexuality, UNIBAM
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Bishop Philip Wright of Belize
First printed in The Church of England Newspaper.
The Anglican Diocese of Belize has joined the country’s other Churches in opposing reform of the Caribbean nation’s sodomy laws.
Bishop Philip Wright of Belize, along with Roman Catholic Bishop Dorick Wright and the president of the Belize Evangelical Association, the Rev Eugene Crawford, have urged the government to stand fast against attempts to decriminalise homosexual conduct.
In May, the Belize Council of Churches stated it would seek to join as interested parties the case of Caleb Orozco and the United Belize Advocacy Movement (UNIBAM) against the Attorney General of Belize. The Orozoco case challenges the constitutionality of Section 53 of the Belize Criminal Code, Chapter 101 which prescribes 10 years imprisonment for “unnatural crime,” defined as “carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any person or animal.”
Gay advocacy groups along with the International Commission of Jurists, the Commonwealth Lawyers Association and the Human Dignity Trust are seeking to overturn the law, and have engaged the former Attorney General of Belize and the former British Attorney General, Lord Goldsmith, to argue their case in December before the country’s high court.
In May, Anglican and Roman Catholic Bishops and the president of the Evangelical Association criticised the lawsuit as being “heavily influenced by foreign interests who seek to impose a worldview that directly contradicts the supremacy of God as reflected in our laws, challenges our national sovereignty, and threatens our very way of life, not least by targeting our children.”
Decriminalising homosexuality was the thin edge of the wedge that would see homosexual behaviour transformed into a “right” that would inevitably see it promoted as a morally neutral behaviour, the bishops said.
“This homosexual agenda insists upon the promotion of homosexual acts in the schools and society, undermining the rights of parents as primary educators of their children and targeting even grammar school children under the guise of ‘comprehensive’ sexual education programmes that promote sodomy and immoral behaviour. It also demands that same-sex marriage must be recognised, and that no group may object to this agenda on religious or moral grounds,” the bishops said.
“Let us be clear what is at stake here,” they said. “In every country that has granted a new ‘right’ to homosexual behaviour, activists have promoted and steadily expanded this ‘right’ to trump universally recognised rights to religious freedom and expression.
On 26 July, the Belize Council of Churches — representing the majority of denominations in the West Indian country — stated that homosexual practices were sinful and contrary to the natural order.
They stated the arguments put forward by UNIBAM “on sex and sexuality”, on “sexual orientation and behaviour,” on the “concept of the family and on human reproduction” and on the moral good of “same-sex marriage” were “biblically unfounded and theologically unsound.”
The laws of Belize “reflect God’s law,” the Churches said and “all changes in the Constitution of Belize that will not promote the sanctity of human sexual relations as established by God,” should be rejected by the courts, the Churches said.
NY passes gay marriage law: The Church of England Newspaper, July 1, 2011 p 7. July 5, 2011
Posted by geoconger in Church of England Newspaper, Human Sexuality --- The gay issue, Marriage, New York.comments closed
Bishop Mark Sisk of New York
First published in The Church of England Newspaper.
The state of New York has legalized ‘gay marriage’. On 24 June, the state senate voted 33-29 to redefine marriage, making New York the largest and most influential American state to adopt the innovation. It also ends a string of defeats for the gay marriage movement, which saw similar bills rejected in Maryland and Rhode Island last month.
Church leaders in New York split over the vote, with five of the state’s six Episcopal bishops backing the measure while the Roman Catholic and Evangelical Churches opposed it.
In 2009 a similar bill failed to pass the Democrat-controlled senate. The state senate swung Republican last year, giving the GOP a 32-30 margin. However, when the vote came before the senate last week four Republicans voted in favour of the bill after language protecting religious liberties was introduced by Gov Andrew Cuomo.
The National Organization for Marriage, which opposed the bill, lambasted the “sham religious liberty language” in the compromise and vowed to turn the four Republican out of office.
Maggie Gallagher, founder of the National Organization for Marriage, warned: “New York Republicans are responsible for passing gay marriage. The party will pay a grave price.”
Family Research Council President Tony Perkins also blamed Republicans saying that “while it was the Democrats who were pushing this agenda, it is the Republicans in the NY Senate who ultimately allowed this to happen.”
New York Bishop Mark Sisk told the Episcopal News Service he welcomed the legislation, saying: “It was with thanksgiving and joy that I received the news of the New York State legislature’s affirmative action on the Marriage Equality legislation that it had been debating with such intensity.
“The legislation, as enacted, appears to be closely aligned with the long-standing views of this Diocese that the civil rights of all people should be respected equally before the law.
“The legislature’s action in broadening the definition of marriage to include same-sex unions has to do with civil law, as it properly should,” Bishop Sisk noted.
“It does not determine Church teaching about the nature of sacraments. That is our continuing work. However, nothing in the unfinished nature of that work should cause us to hesitate to give our most profound thanks for the step that has been taken in affording equal civil rights for our brothers and sisters,” the Bishop said.
Gay unions are ‘God’s will’, Brazilian archbishop says: The Church of England Newspaper, May 27, 2011 p 6. May 28, 2011
Posted by geoconger in Anglican Episcopal Church of Brazil, Church of England Newspaper, Human Sexuality --- The gay issue, Marriage.comments closed
Archbishop Maurício de Andrade
First published in The Church of England Newspaper.
Anglican leaders in Brazil have divided sharply over that country’s Supreme Court ruling recognizing same-sex unions. On May 5 the Federal Supreme Court (STF) held the right to freedom of expression should be construed to include the choice of sexual conduct, and authorized gay civil unions.
On May 16, the primate of the Episcopal Anglican Church of Brazil, (IEAB), Archbishop Maurício de Andrade lauded the decision as an “important advance in our society” for “equality and citizenship.” The ruling was part of God’s plan for Brazil, he noted, and should be seen as the “gradual and subtle inspiration of the Holy Spirit in transforming our society.”
However, the breakaway Bishop of Recife, Robinson Cavalcani, along with leaders of the Roman Catholic Church, denounced the ruling, saying that reducing sexual conduct to a choice of expression undermines traditional marriage.
The justices of the STF voted 10 to zero to give legal sanction to gay civil unions. The decision grants gay couples many of the rights enjoyed by married couples, including pension benefits and inheritance. ”The freedom to pursue one’s own sexuality is part of an individual’s freedom of expression,” said Justice Carlos Ayres Britto, the author of the ruling, in explaining the decision.
The ruling has raised legal as well as moral qualms in South America’s largest country. Brazil’s constitution does not touch upon the subject and the ruling is drawn from language governing free speech and expression. It has also been denounced as anti-democratic as it takes the issue out of the hands of legislators.
Archbishop Andrade said the ruling “poses serious challenges to all Christians of all churches because it requires openness to recognize that [homosexual] relationships are part of the way of being of the society and of the human nature.”
Bishop Cavalcanti, however, sharply denounced the decision. “Immorality was legalized. Sin was legalized. Brazil is in mourning.”
The evangelical leader predicted the “next step is the criminalization of heterosexuals who do not recognize the normalcy of homosexuality.” He noted that an act pending before the Brazilian Senate, PLC 122, seeks to curtail freedom of religion and freedom of speech of those who see homosexual conduct as sinful in deference to the right of freedom of expression to those who promote it as a moral good.
However, Bishop Cavalcanti stated the new ruling would not change church teaching, and he called Evangelicals and Anglicans across Brazil to remain faithful to Scripture and to the moral teachings of the church.
MP’s fear that Jerusalem will become a ‘gay’ hymn: The Church of England Newspaper, May 27, 2011 p 3. May 26, 2011
Posted by geoconger in Church of England, Church of England Newspaper, Hymnody/Liturgy, Marriage.comments closed
Chris Bryant MP
First published in The Church of England Newspaper.
Government regulations on same-sex marriages will lock the hymn Jerusalem into a gay ghetto, a Labour MP told the House of Commons last week. On May 19 the member for Rhondda, Mr. Chris Bryant, asked that time be set aside for a debate on the Government’s policy of singing Jerusalem at weddings.
In his question to the leader of the House of Commons, Sir George Young, Mr. Bryant said, “If a heterosexual couple get married in church, many clergy will refuse to allow it to be sung, because it is not a hymn addressed to God; if a straight couple get married in a civil wedding, they are point blank not allowed it, because it is a religious song; if, however, a gay couple have a civil partnership, under Government plans they will be allowed to sing it.”
A number of cathedrals and parish charges have banned Jerusalem as being xenophobic, nationalistic, and because the words written by William Black over 200 years ago do not praise God.
In 2008 the Very Rev Colin Slee, the late Dean of Southwark Cathedral, forbad its singing during a private memorial service. A spokesman for the Cathedral explained, “The Dean of Southwark does not believe that it is to the glory of God and it is not therefore used in private memorial services.”
The Bishop of Peterborough, the Rev. Rev. Donald Allister, when serving as Vicar of Cheadle in 2001 refused to allow the hymn to be played at a parish wedding as it was a “nationalistic song that does not praise God,” while St Margaret’s Westminster had banned the hymn because the words “dark satanic mills” was discriminatory.
However, Jerusalem remains one of the most popular hymns in the Church of England and was played at the Royal Wedding on April 29.
In his speech to the House last week, Mr. Bryant asked the leader of the Commons for assurances that “Jerusalem is not just reserved for homosexuals?”
The Speaker of the House interjected “I want to hear the Leader’s reply!”
Sir George responded, “I think that Jerusalem should be sung on every possible occasion.”
Marriage and Family celebrated in Britain and the West Indies: The Church of England Newspaper, Feb 25, 2011 March 2, 2011
Posted by geoconger in Church of England, Church of England Newspaper, Church of the Province of the West Indies, Marriage.comments closed
The West Indian Bishops at the 2009 consecration of the Bishop of Guyana
First published in The Church of England Newspaper.
The Bishops of the Church of the Province of the West Indies have inaugurated a “Year of the Family,” calling upon Caribbean Christians to come out of sinful relationships and immoral practices and adopt an attitude that puts the family first.
Their call echoes statements made last week by the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions seeking a recommitment to marriage in Britain.
In a statement marking the opening of the Family Year on the third Sunday of Epiphany, Jan 23, Archbishop John Holder of Barbados said that among the challenges “facing our families in the Caribbean” were the “care and support of the elderly,” the “care and guidance of our children,” and “channelling the energy of our youth along creative paths.”
In its social agenda, the Anglican Church has sought to foster the importance of the nuclear family, working to overcome common social patterns of absent fathers, grandmother-dominated households, short-lived common-law unions, and ‘child-shifting’, where children are sent to live with relatives because the parents have migrated or have begun a union with another spouse.
Youth work has also focused on providing alternate models for young boys, who often view family patterns such as matriarchal households, male absenteeism, and extramarital relationships as norms and continue them as adults.
Archbishop Holder stated “we can never over emphasise the critical role the family plays in stabilising and enriching society.”
“This is a role recognised by the Church and every member is being called upon to make a special contribution to this critical process,” he said, citing the work of the Mothers’ Union and other church organizations that were “strengthening our families” and supporting marriage.
Preserving and strengthening marriage was imperative in Britain also, the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Iain Duncan Smith, said last week.
In a speech delivered at the start of Marriage Week on Feb 8, Mr. Duncan Smith denounced elitist anti-marriage attitudes, and called upon the government to “ensure people have the opportunity to achieve their aspirations” and to marry.
“Today through our celebrity focused media we give awards to so many different groups, film stars, soap stars, pop stars and football stars,” he stated, “yet the most basic institution, which nurtures each generation and from which so many of us draw our strength and purpose, goes unnoticed and unrewarded.”
“The commitment of two people to put selfish interest to one side for the sake of each other and the children they raise is simply the very best of us as human beings,” the minister said, adding that marriage was the “best antidote to the celebrity obsessed culture we live in, for it is about understanding that our true value is lastingly expressed through the lives of others we commit to.”
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Rowan Williams stated “marriage nourishes our society and it’s only natural that couples should nourish themselves by making sure they have a proper helping of leisure time together.”
“We know there’s no greater communication than in breaking bread together and I hope Marriage Week will serve to remind those of us who are married that we should be making time to eat and talk and play together all year round,” Dr. Williams said.
No action on gay blessings in Southern Africa: The Church of England Newspaper, Feb 18, 2011 p 8. February 20, 2011
Posted by geoconger in Anglican Church of Southern Africa, Church of England Newspaper, Marriage.comments closed
The Southern African House of Bishops
First published in The Church of England Newspaper.
The Southern African House of Bishops has deferred taking action on adopting guidelines for the blessing of same-sex unions, citing legal difficulties and theological divisions within its ranks.
Meeting from Feb 7-12 at the Mariannhill Conference Centre in the Diocese of Natal, the bishops released a pastoral letter at the close of their meeting confirming they were at an impasse.
They noted that Archbishop Thabo Makgoba had “taken a lead in bringing concerns to us from the dioceses in the Western Cape with regard to the pastoral care of persons who have entered into civil unions or are considering doing so.”
However, they noted this was “not a matter of legitimising same-sex unions but of care for worshippers who are already in them,” the bishops said, adding that “our Church does not consider any relationship to be marriage unless it is the historic relationship of a man and a woman uniting, ideally for life.”
At their Sept 2010 meeting, the bishops reviewed a draft document entitled “Pastoral Guidelines in Response to Civil Unions” and asked the church’s 25 dioceses to review the protocols for discussion at the bishops’ Feb 2011 meeting. At the close of their Sept 2010 meeting the bishops said they were “acutely aware of the need to act pastorally and prudently on this sensitive matter,” but were also “committed to remaining within the accepted teachings of our Church on marriage and the ongoing dialogue within the Anglican Communion.”
In the letter released at the close of their meeting last week, the bishops stated they did not “regard sexuality as a church-dividing issue” and would “draw upon our experience of holding together by the grace of Christ in a time of acute tension and disagreement.”
However, the bishops said they were not able to give their approval to the draft document at this time. “It is difficult to give blanket guidelines because the position is starkly at variance in the legal systems of the seven countries where we work.”
“We continue to work on creating guidelines in several areas of difficulty raised by the issue of civil unions. A draft for discussion in dioceses is in development. However, we note that guidelines in other areas could also be useful – such as supporting and acknowledging those who choose celibate singleness in their Christian discipleship, whether pending future marriage or for life,” the bishops said.
Last week’s pastoral letter builds upon letters released at the close of the 2004 and 2007 meetings. Following the April 2004 session, the bishops stated the Southern African Church was “committed” to Resolution 1.10 of the 1998 Lambeth Conference and to the Primates’ call “not to solemnise same-sex marriages but to continue in dialogue on this and related issues.”
In a statement released at the close of their Sept 2007 meeting, the bishops reaffirmed Lambeth Resolution 1.10, but stated that they did not “believe sexual orientation” was a “barrier to leadership within the church. However, maintaining as we do, that Christian marriage is a lifelong union between one man and one woman, we hold that clergy unable to commit to another in a Christian marriage partnership are called to a life of celibacy.”
The 2007 statement followed a request to the bishops by the Cape Town synod for “pastoral guidelines for ministering to those who are in committed same-sex relationships.”
The year before the South African Parliament voted to allow same-sex couples to “solemnize and register a voluntary union by way of either a marriage or a civil partnership,” after the South Africa’s Constitutional Court Appeal held the common-law definition of marriage should be changed from a “union between a man and a woman” to a “union between two persons.”
