The problem is that, as with the former Prime Minister\u2019s claim, nobody really believes this is the case. How many people really believe that:<\/p>\n
Charlie Bell,\u00a0a supporter of getting PLF done but also a severe critic of the latest proposals<\/a>, recently wrote \u201cwhat the bishops have done may be legal, but it is not honest\u201d. This echoes the language of Canon C1 and the oath of canonical obedience. The way in which the bishops are proceeding\u2014the \u201cnothing has changed\u201d argument and the refusal to publish the written legal advice they have received\u2014is very difficult to view as honest and to trust. Given the law has not formally been changed, for many the introduction of PLF means that the doctrine to which the law refers has changed in practice. If, as it is being claimed, doctrine has not changed, then what is being proposed seems to many to be not only \u201cnot honest\u201d but also, as shown by past legal advice, probably \u201cnot legal\u201d.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In short, unless we sincerely believe and are convinced that \u201cnothing has changed\u201d, then we have to say that it appears the bishops are acting in their commendation, and thereby encouraging clergy to act in their services, in ways which are unlawful. In addition, those liturgical actions are now\u2014because of the bishops\u2019 decisions, which do not alter the legality of what they commend and so in one sense could be described as simply symbolic or \u201cvirtue signalling\u201d\u2014going to attract much more attention when they take place then they have done in the past. This means clergy who accept at face value and act on the basis of the bishops\u2019 commendation are probably more likely to face legal challenge than they were in the past.<\/p>\n In the light of this, it even more unacceptable that the bishops are now so reticent to set out clearly for parish clergy, and those who advise them such as archdeacons, both<\/p>\n Read it all<\/a>.<\/p>\n It has repeatedly been stated that the CofE's doctrine of marriage has not changed. Can the bishops commend the Prayers of Love and Faith with any credibility without sharing the legal and theological basis on which they are doing so? @theologyethics1<\/a> https:\/\/t.co\/3c7RlIvjb9<\/a><\/p>\n — Dr Ian Paul (@Psephizo) November 28, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n \n
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