From the Winnipeg Sun:<\/p>\n
Planning a wedding is usually complicated, taking months to sort out a seemingly endless parade of details.<\/p>\n
For Frank Kajfes, 60, the months leading up to the big day with Bryan Wannop, his partner of 30 years, were difficult for another reason.<\/p>\n
As Anglicans, it was important to Kajfes and Wannop, 70, to have a religious component to their wedding. Since the church doesn’t allow its priests to bless same-sex unions, having Kajfes and Wannop at the altar on their wedding day was a delicate matter.<\/p>\n
Church leaders came up with a clever compromise.<\/p>\n
Before they were legally married by a Federal Court judge at the end of a regular Sunday mass, they were prayed for by the entire congregation of St. John the Evangelist in Ottawa — instead of just the priest.<\/p>\n
“They were blessing us, not our marriage. That was a technical point,” said Kajfes.<\/p>\n
“It was the closest thing they could do without contravening the bishop’s directives.”<\/p>\n