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CANADA: National Canadian Anglicans Skirt Requests Over Gay Unions
By Randall Palmer
OTTAWA (Reuters) April 27, 2005 - Bishops of the Anglican Church of Canada skirted a request on Wednesday from the worldwide Anglican Church to place a moratorium on blessing same-sex unions.
They agreed not to encourage such blessings for now but stopped short of pledging a moratorium on the ceremonies, which have stirred up the wrath of orthodox members of the church, particularly in Africa and Latin America.
The House of Bishops also sidestepped a request that the Canadian church voluntarily stay away from the decision-making Anglican Consultative Council because of the blessings, practiced in the British Columbian Diocese of New Westminster.
Such blessings, together with the U.S. church's ordination of a gay bishop, threatens to split the global Anglican Communion.
The first suggestion of that was the request made two months ago by Anglican leaders meeting in Northern Ireland that the Canadian church and the U.S. Episcopal Church stay away from the Anglican Consultative Council.
Regarding public rites for blessing same-sex unions, the Canadian bishops committed themselves "neither to encourage nor to initiate the use of such rites until (the) General Synod has made a decision on the matter."
The Canadian church's General Synod -- its highest decision-making body -- meets next in 2007.
For the present, the same-sex blessings will continue in New Westminster.
The blessings are not the same as civil same-sex marriages, which are legal in seven provinces and one territory in Canada. Federal legislation to extend the right nationally to all 10 provinces and three territories is before Parliament now, though churches will not required to perform them.
"As of now, the rites are continuing. There's no change indicated," Neale Adams, spokesman for the diocese, told Reuters.
He said the diocese's general synod would also consider the request for a moratorium when it meets on May 13-14 in Vancouver.
The Canadian House of Bishops said they would leave it to yet another group -- the Council of General Synod, which meets May 6-8 -- to decide on whether to withdraw from the Anglican Consultative Council.
"We see the value of the opportunity for reflection ... but we also see risks inherent in honoring the request," said the bishops, meeting this week in Windsor, Ontario.
They said they supported Canadian Archbishop Andrew Hutchison's intention to "do all in his power to persuade" the May 6-8 meeting to honor the request.
U.S. bishops decided to withdraw their members from the Anglican Consultative Council but to send representatives to its June meeting in Nottingham, England, to listen and "be available for conversation and consultation."
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