Declaring \u201ca state of impaired communion\u201d over the issue of same-sex marriage, the bishops of the Diocese of the Arctic have moved to distance themselves from the actions of other dioceses in the Anglican Church of Canada.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are grateful that the vote to change the marriage canon failed<\/a> but saving the marriage canon did not save the biblical understanding of marriage. We are saddened that so many bishops have defied General Synod and have announced an independent decision to approve same-sex marriage,\u201d the bishops said, in a letter to the diocese. The letter was signed by Diocesan Bishop David W. Parsons and the three suffragan bishops of the diocese: Joey Royal, Annie Ittoshat, and Lucy Netser.<\/p>\n A resolution that would have paved the way to allowing same-sex marriage with the permission of diocesan bishops failed by two votes to get the necessary two-thirds majority in the order of bishops at the Church\u2019s triennial General Synod, which concluded July 16. The resolution easily surpassed two-thirds in the order of clergy and order of the laity.<\/p>\n Within a day after the July 12 vote, primate-elect<\/a> Linda Nicholls, in her role as outgoing Bishop of Huron, and the bishops of Ottawa<\/a>, Niagara<\/a>, Rupert\u2019s Land<\/a>, and Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island<\/a> announced they would continue the practice of allowing priests in their dioceses to perform or bless same-sex marriages.<\/p>\n