The Ottawa diocese of the Anglican Church of Canada yesterday approved same-sex marriage blessings in a move sure to inflame a debate over gay rights that has pushed the communion to the brink of schism.
By a margin of 177 to 97, delegates to the diocese’s annual synod in Cornwall approved a motion asking the local bishop to allow clergy “whose conscience permits” to bless same-sex unions.
Conservative church leaders immediately condemned the move.
“It goes to the very opposite direction to what the international church is calling for,” retired Newfoundland bishop Donald Harvey, moderator of the Anglican Network in Canada, told the Star.
The worldwide Anglican Communion has been bitterly divided on the issue of same-sex marriage blessings since the appointment of the openly gay Gene Robinson as bishop of New Hampshire in 2004.
The majority of Anglicans worldwide belong to conservative churches in developing countries, which have been pushing for a more orthodox approach to policy.
“Gosh, guys, the Americans are still in, and they have been threatened with action for going on seven years now. Why don’t we just jump in, after all, nothing will happen to us, either.”
So when with the GS Primates begin chastising Canada (not to mention England) instead of making the wealthy American Church their favorite whipping-boy? Freedom is breaking out all over!