Gay UK Anglican priests 'marry'
Pastor Dale Morgan
*Gay UK Anglican priests 'marry'*
>From correspondents in London
August 02, 2006 06:21am
Reuters
A UK priest who was at the centre of a furore over homosexuality in the
Church of England has entered a civil partnership with his long term
partner, another male priest, gay activists said today.
Conservatives in the Church of England reacted to the news with dismay
and said it would aggravate the row over homosexuality in the Anglican
Communion, the loose federation of Anglican churches worldwide.
Jeffrey John, dean of St Albans, entered into the civil partnership with
Grant Hollings, a Church of England chaplain, in a ceremony at a
register office in southern England last week, the activists said.
Britain introduced the partnerships for same-sex couples last December,
with the same legal rights as heterosexual marriage.
They are widely referred to as "gay marriages" although the law does not
call them that.
John and Hollings have been together for many years and say their
relationship is celibate. Under Church of England rules, clergy are
allowed to declare themselves gay and enter a civil partnership, as long
as they disavow practising gay sex.
John is thought to be the most senior member of the Church of England
clergy to enter into a civil partnership, and is certainly the most
controversial.
In 2003 he was nominated to become the Church's first openly gay bishop,
but withdrew at the request of Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams
after an outcry from conservatives.
Martin Reynolds, spokesman for the Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement,
confirmed the news of John's partnership and acknowledged it would
reignite arguments over homosexual clergy.
"Sadly, I'm sure there will be a visceral reaction from around the
world," he said.
"It is significant, mostly for the reaction which I'm sure it will invite."
Church of England traditionalists, already dismayed by the decision of
Anglicans in the United States to nominate a gay man as a bishop,
acknowledged that celibate civil partnerships did not break church
rules, but said they were alarmed.
"Although formally he (John) has broken no Church of England rules ...
his action at a time of crisis for the Anglican Communion can only make
things much worse," said Rod Thomas, spokesman for conservative group
Reform.
"It's only a short step from here to the Church of England going down
the same route as the American church, with such disastrous consequences."