Berliner Boersenzeitung - Anglican church set for fiery debate over same-sex marriage

EUR -
AED 4.26841
AFN 80.362394
ALL 97.542216
AMD 446.735356
ANG 2.080099
AOA 1065.794205
ARS 1494.414015
AUD 1.776887
AWG 2.092071
AZN 1.980459
BAM 1.954642
BBD 2.348809
BDT 141.226338
BGN 1.956132
BHD 0.43854
BIF 3466.946195
BMD 1.162261
BND 1.493215
BOB 8.038238
BRL 6.486005
BSD 1.163311
BTN 100.147673
BWP 15.618748
BYN 3.807045
BYR 22780.325028
BZD 2.336716
CAD 1.596076
CDF 3354.287055
CHF 0.932807
CLF 0.029182
CLP 1120.296341
CNY 8.342655
CNH 8.346165
COP 4674.330945
CRC 587.052233
CUC 1.162261
CUP 30.799929
CVE 110.199718
CZK 24.634179
DJF 206.947405
DKK 7.463699
DOP 70.258379
DZD 151.514244
EGP 57.439973
ERN 17.433922
ETB 161.636047
FJD 2.620788
FKP 0.864949
GBP 0.866519
GEL 3.150183
GGP 0.864949
GHS 12.127816
GIP 0.864949
GMD 83.106172
GNF 10094.020343
GTQ 8.931709
GYD 243.385819
HKD 9.121487
HNL 30.445964
HRK 7.532663
HTG 152.739518
HUF 398.923459
IDR 18977.696027
ILS 3.908598
IMP 0.864949
INR 100.127437
IQD 1523.897249
IRR 48945.741055
ISK 142.354235
JEP 0.864949
JMD 186.029797
JOD 0.824089
JPY 172.932309
KES 150.300962
KGS 101.640213
KHR 4662.238109
KMF 491.989694
KPW 1046.046309
KRW 1616.942576
KWD 0.355234
KYD 0.969426
KZT 620.152624
LAK 25087.138481
LBP 104232.653
LKR 350.972086
LRD 233.241828
LSL 20.596898
LTL 3.431856
LVL 0.703041
LYD 6.327252
MAD 10.519168
MDL 19.788278
MGA 5176.933206
MKD 61.523554
MMK 2439.678938
MNT 4168.013035
MOP 9.404829
MRU 46.275587
MUR 53.119698
MVR 17.903172
MWK 2017.205016
MXN 21.777182
MYR 4.935007
MZN 74.338683
NAD 20.596898
NGN 1779.387897
NIO 42.814637
NOK 11.838157
NPR 160.236077
NZD 1.94976
OMR 0.446894
PAB 1.163311
PEN 4.140847
PGK 4.817146
PHP 66.377189
PKR 331.310933
PLN 4.244785
PYG 9003.666265
QAR 4.229694
RON 5.072695
RSD 117.080642
RUB 91.265035
RWF 1681.00418
SAR 4.36165
SBD 9.64543
SCR 17.082281
SDG 697.942292
SEK 11.245095
SGD 1.492813
SHP 0.913355
SLE 26.62005
SLL 24372.046713
SOS 664.806172
SRD 43.245469
STD 24056.466061
STN 24.485495
SVC 10.17897
SYP 15112.803405
SZL 20.592801
THB 37.628259
TJS 11.196867
TMT 4.079538
TND 3.419874
TOP 2.722137
TRY 46.947496
TTD 7.897322
TWD 34.181766
TZS 3030.404801
UAH 48.58252
UGX 4168.530579
USD 1.162261
UYU 46.882227
UZS 14725.276806
VES 135.943958
VND 30404.760344
VUV 138.92149
WST 3.080055
XAF 655.568644
XAG 0.030448
XAU 0.000347
XCD 3.14107
XCG 2.096558
XDR 0.815317
XOF 655.568644
XPF 119.331742
YER 280.163552
ZAR 20.586499
ZMK 10461.752209
ZMW 26.785133
ZWL 374.247723
  • CMSC

    0.0900

    22.314

    +0.4%

  • CMSD

    0.0250

    22.285

    +0.11%

  • RBGPF

    0.0000

    69.04

    0%

  • SCS

    0.0400

    10.74

    +0.37%

  • RELX

    0.0300

    53

    +0.06%

  • RIO

    -0.1400

    59.33

    -0.24%

  • GSK

    0.1300

    41.45

    +0.31%

  • NGG

    0.2700

    71.48

    +0.38%

  • BP

    0.1750

    30.4

    +0.58%

  • BTI

    0.7150

    48.215

    +1.48%

  • BCC

    0.7900

    91.02

    +0.87%

  • JRI

    0.0200

    13.13

    +0.15%

  • VOD

    0.0100

    9.85

    +0.1%

  • BCE

    -0.0600

    22.445

    -0.27%

  • RYCEF

    0.1000

    12

    +0.83%

  • AZN

    -0.1200

    73.71

    -0.16%

Anglican church set for fiery debate over same-sex marriage
Anglican church set for fiery debate over same-sex marriage / Photo: JUSTIN TALLIS - AFP

Anglican church set for fiery debate over same-sex marriage

The Church of England will on Wednesday debate contentious plans enabling priests to offer blessings to same-sex couples, amid deep Anglican divisions over the issue in Britain and beyond.

Text size:

Hundreds of members of the General Synod -- the Church's elected governing body, which meets two or three times a year -- will discuss and vote on the proposals unveiled last month by bishops.

There is no change to rules banning Anglican priests from officiating at weddings of same-sex couples. But under the proposals, they could offer "God's blessing" for civil marriages or civil partnerships in a church.

In an open letter, bishops also issued an unprecedented apology directly to LGBTQ people last month for the sometimes "hostile and homophobic response" they have faced in parishes.

The steps follow nearly six years of internal debate, but have sparked criticism from both those who support and oppose same-sex marriage, as global fractures within Anglicanism surface.

Jayne Ozanne, a Synod member and LGBTQ campaigner, issued a stinging condemnation of the belated apology.

"We've had years of apologies from our bishops but no action," she told AFP, ahead of Wednesday's five-hour scheduled debate.

"It's like an abusive relationship where someone keeps hitting you and then says 'I'm sorry, I'm sorry'.

"Until the discrimination and the abuse stop, we don't want to hear more empty words. We need action first."

- 'Broken fellowship' -

But the conservative Church of England Evangelical Council has railed against the reforms.

It says they will create "further division and broken fellowship" within the Church, and "a greater tearing of the fabric of the worldwide Anglican Communion".

"We believe that the responsibility of the Church of England is to serve the nation by proclaiming the gospel, not by compromising with prevailing culture," it said in a statement last month.

The Church of England has been under political pressure to reform its approach to same-sex marriage ever since it became legal in England in 2013.

Although dozens of other countries have legalised same-sex unions, homosexuality remains banned in many parts of the world.

That includes in highly religious and conservative countries in sub-Saharan Africa, which help make up the Anglican Communion of 43 Churches in 165 countries.

It boasts around 85 million members, and is the third largest Christian communion after the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches.

- 'Passionately held differences' -

A rift appears to have emerged between Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby and some of these Anglican churches, which often support tougher curbs on the LGBTQ community rather than liberalising existing doctrine.

"We have deep and passionately held differences," Welby conceded Monday as he opened the four-day Synod.

"But let us not fall into caricaturing those among us who don't agree with us as being those who are trying to construct their lives away from God. The evidence is far from that."

Welby went on to warn that "too many people, especially around sexuality, have heard the words of rejection that human tongues create".

Although the plans to be debated Wednesday afternoon do not change Church of England law, and so do not require formal Synod approval, members will vote on a motion of support and amendments put forward.

A rejection of the proposals could make it practically impossible for them to proceed.

The Church of England is not the only major Christian communion confronting major tensions on the issue, with the Catholic Church also plagued by divisions.

Pope Francis has stirred controversy with his relatively liberal attitude towards sexual orientation, which is at odds with the beliefs of many Catholic conservatives.

But the pope has also frustrated modernisers by sticking firmly to Catholic teaching that marriage is the union between a man and a woman.

(K.Lüdke--BBZ)