In his first official day as leader of the Church of England, the Rt Rev Justin Welby is expected to say that marriage should remain “between a man and a woman”.
As MPs prepare for the vote on gay marriage tomorrow, Bishop Welby will give his first interviews after being officially confirmed in the post at a ceremony in St Paul’s Cathedral in London.
“He will say that marriage is between a man and a woman, and always has been,” a source close to Bishop Welby said last night, adding that the Archbishop was expecting to be asked for his views and had prepared his response.
Oh dear. Is this going to be another damp squib, ALREADY? He said nothing bold or even particularly clear. The curious circumlocutionary cautionspeak which seems to overtake Archbishops of Canterbury may already be making itself felt. Here are his bold words:
“The Government wants it, … We think there are issues around the way it’s going forward … It’s not a collision course, no, it’s just part of the normal discussion that one has … We have made our views clear and I’m very much with the House of Bishops on this, and they have made their views clear.â€
They have made their views clear. So that’s that, then. Children, no need to alarm yourselves. Leave this to the private conversations of the grown-ups.
I thought the tape was pretty clear. Glad to hear he thinks of the entire Communion and says as much to the English.
Now it remains to be seen how Katherine Jefferts Schori and her pals from Integrity will react to this development. No more Archbishop of Canterbury supporting same sex “marriage,” eh? [b]GOOD![/b]
A variety of prayers for Archbishop Welby and the CoE may be found [url=http://anglicanprayer.wordpress.com/2013/01/06/england-from-the-past-to-the-future/]here[/url].
I thought the tape wasn’t very clear. The choppy edits were not helpful. Archbishop Welby was clear in that he supported the CofE HOB but I don’t think you can glean too much more from what he believes from this video.