...at the weekend, lots of prattle about planned new legislation concerning churches and same-sex "civil unions". I felt a real chill - is this going to mean some ghastly and crippling legal cases, in which campaigners sue RC priests who refuse them a ceremony? Or will it outright compulsion - a law which attempts to force us to abandon the Faith and the teachings of the Church by holding such ceremonies? The latter seems unlikely, the former of course a real possibility. Will the Govt give fair and just legal protection to Christians so that we can teach and celebrate the Christian faith in Christian churches? It was a quiet relief to hear Archbishop Peter Smith of Southwark affirming calmly and firmly that no Catholic church could hold a ceremony to mark a same-sex union: it is the very nature of marrige that it can only be a union of a man and a woman.
The Church is going to have to be very firm and very clear on this. There must be absolutely no legal loophole in which campaigners can force huge fines on the Church for doing what the Church teaches. There must be freedom for the Church to preach and teach Catholic faith and morals. No compulsion on same-sex unions, no compulsion to teach anything that is contrary to the Catholic Faith, no possibility of people trying to use civil lawsuits to cripple the Church or force church closures.
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3 comments:
It makes it obvious for all to see which is the real Church and which is not.
However I'm not happy that unity is coming about in this way. Practicing Anglicans are usually serious people who have kept the country's Christian heritage alive despite huge difficulties. They deserve better than this.
The legislation will remove an impediment that forbids a civil registration from being conducted in any religious building.
I don't agree with civil partnerships myself, but I don't think that the law of the land should refuse to allow Quakers to hold them in their Meeting Houses, which is currently the case.
There is a fair amount of scare mongering going on with this proposed legislation.
The CofE has made its position clear through the statement by the ArchBishop of York.
There will be no compulsion to bless same sex partnerships in churches that do not in conscience consent to it.
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