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Church of England’s top woman: We’re driving people away on gay marriage
Vivienne Faull, the Dean of York, has said she would have no problem blessing same-sex unions – and has revealed she has done so in the past
By Joe Morgan
http://www.gaystarnews.com/
29 April 2014
The woman most hotly tipped to be the Church of England’s first woman bishop has issued a stark warning to elders over their stance against gay marriage.
Vivienne Faull, the Dean of York, has said she would have no problem blessing same-sex unions – and has revealed she has done so in the past.
She has encouraged bishops to relax their attitudes on same-sex marriage, fearing if they do not then it could ‘cost’ the Church of England dearly.
‘The blessing of a gay relationship is not theologically a problem for me personally, but I’m under the discipline of the Church and I keep the rules,’ she told Radio Times.
She has never formally blessed a gay partnership but has found ways of meeting the need for celebration within the Church’s rules.
‘When people have come to me in the past and said, “We’re looking for a way of celebrating our civil partnership, how shall we do it?” we’ve found ways of doing it.
‘I think it is very costly to the Church that women have not been able to be bishops till now. And this [the stalemate over gay marriages] is also going to be costly.’
Faull revealed several same-sex couples had approached her in the planning of their marriage.
The Church of England requested to be specifically protected in law so that gay couples could not force the denomination to bless their marriage. Gay clergy are also banned from getting married – a prohibition already defied.
‘The [gay couples] understand in their heads what the Church’s position is, but they no longer understand in their hearts. It’s driving people away and that’s dreadful,’ she said.
‘Marriage is now a relationship of equals. And they can see that gay marriage might be constructed along those lines. That’s a very, very significant change.
‘And I’m not sure the House of Bishops has quite got that. It’s very difficult for leaders of organizations to be right in touch with how fast things are changing in the country.’
The Dean was speaking to promote the new BBC2 series The Minster, which begins on 9 May.
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