Under Ecclesiastical and Political Pressures: What Is the Church of England’s Position on Homosexual Marriage?

After six years of internal church debate, the Church of England’s governing body earlier this month approved plans to allow priests to bless same-sex marriage amid a public split in its ranks.

At the same time, Anglican churches rejected the decision of the Synod, accusing the Church of England of departing from the historical Christian faith, and pointing out that the Church’s responsibility is to serve the nation through respect for the Gospel, not through compromises with prevailing tendencies.

The Protestant Church of England announced in January 2023 that it would not allow marriages between people of the same sex, according to AFP.

It is noteworthy that the Church of England has been subjected to rising political and ecclesiastical pressures over the past years to amend its approaches regarding homosexual marriage, which England legalized in 2013.

The Church of England is central to the wider Anglican community, which represents more than 85 million people in 165 countries.

 

Deep Disagreements

On February 9, 2023, the General Synod of the Church of England voted in favor of a proposal to bless the marriages of homosexual couples while confirming its continuation of banning church weddings for the couples themselves.

After eight hours of discussion and in a tense atmosphere, the Synod, an elected body of about 500 members that meets two or three times a year to decide matters of doctrine and politics, endorsed the proposals by a wide margin.

In their statement, Church of England bishops apologized to representatives of homosexuals for their previous exposure to non-acceptance, ostracism, and hostility in churches and the impact it had on their lives.

On the other hand, the Evangelical Council of the Church of England still opposes any amendments regarding homosexual marriage, considering that this will lead to more divisions within the church.

Following the Synod’s announcement, a congregation of 25 Anglican churches announced on February 20, 2023, that they would no longer recognize the Bishop of Canterbury as head of the congregation, the Associated Press reported.

The Global South Fellowship of Anglican Churches (GSFA), which represents several Anglican churches in the southern hemisphere, said in a statement on February 20, 2023, that it was no longer able to recognize the current Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, as the first peer-president of the global church.

Conservative Anglican churches, including some in Africa that represent nearly half of the world’s estimated 100 million Anglicans, have already broken off relations with churches that espouse liberal teaching and practice on homosexuality, including the Episcopal Church in the United States, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The GSFA, which says it speaks for 75% of Anglicans worldwide, has accused the Church of England of straying from the right track by allowing homosexual unions to be blessed.

“Since the Church of England has departed from the historical faith. It deprives itself of the leadership of the Church as the historically Mother Church,” it said.

The statement was signed by the GSFA’s chair, South Sudan Archbishop Justin Badi, and the archbishops of Chile, the Indian Ocean, Congo, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Uganda, Sudan, Alexandria, and Melanesia.

The bishops represent about a quarter of the 42 member churches of the Anglican Communion.

The move brings a schism in the Communion closer, but it’s not clear what happens next.

Welby’s Lambeth Palace office said in a statement that “no changes to the formal structures of the Anglican Communion can be made unless they are agreed upon by the Instruments of Communion.”

“The deep disagreements that exist across the Anglican Communion on sexuality and marriage are not new,” the statement said.

But, it added: “In a world of conflict, suffering, and uncertainty, we must remember that more unites us than divides us.”

It is noteworthy that the registration of non-church marriages between homosexuals had begun in England, Scotland, and Wales in 2014, and in Northern Ireland in 2020.

The popularity of religious marriages in England and Wales has fallen dramatically over the years, with civil marriages outnumbering religious ones every year since 1992.

According to the 2018 UK census, religious ceremonies accounted for 21.1% of opposite-sex marriages and 0.9% of same-sex marriages.

 

Parliamentary Threat

In the same context, the Archbishop of the Canterbury, Justin Welby, revealed that he had been threatened with parliamentary action in an attempt to impose same-sex marriage on the Church of England, as reported by BBC on February 13, 2023.

Speaking during a meeting of the ACC World Anglican Advisory Council, Welby said that “many members of the Synod ignored his concerns about allowing the blessing of same-sex couples in civil partnerships earlier this month.”

In an official address on February 12, 2023, Welby said that “the rules regarding sexuality in the Church of England have been brought up for discussion as a result of the rise of atheism in the UK.”

He pointed out that when Christians who feared that Islam would take over Europe contacted him, he told them that the greatest danger was represented by the growing number of atheists.

“As a result, I was summoned twice to parliament, and threatened to take parliamentary action to impose homosexual marriage on us,” he said.

Welby felt that the Christian values of communal and mutual responsibility had been almost eliminated in favor of individualism.

“In the UK and in many parts of Europe, the majority of people now belong to no faith at all. They are not Christians, they are not Muslims, they are not pagans, they are not Jews, they are not Hindus. They do not belong,” he said.

On February 1, 2023, the world’s most senior Anglican leader said he would rather see the disestablishment of the Church of England than witness the fragmentation of the global Anglican Communion over the issue of same-sex marriage, as reported by the Guardian.

Anglicans have been deeply divided over the issue of the consecration of same-sex marriages in churches, and the church is under pressure from MPs calling for its conformity to the demands and practices of the state.

 

Pressures and Divisions

Last January, the Church of England refused to allow homosexual marriage in its churches, according to proposals submitted, in which the centuries-old institution says it will abide by its teachings that marriage should be between a man and a woman.

The proposals were then submitted by bishops, who make up one of three parts of the church’s governing body known as the General Synod, after the Church of England deliberated for six years over sex, marriage, and other matters.

“Persons of the same gender will not be permitted to marry in any Church of England church,” the statement said.

As confirmed by a BBC report on January 17, 2023, it stated that the bishops refused to support an amendment in the teachings to allow priests to marry people of the same sex.

Under the proposals, same-sex couples could have a service offering prayers of devotion and thanksgiving or ask for God’s blessing for the couple in church after a civil marriage.

The Church of England said prayer would be optional for clergy, implying that spiritual leaders could not offer such a service.

The Church of England, founded in 1534, has been divided for years over how to handle same-sex marriage.

Gay activists have sought the same rights as marriage between a man and a woman.

In an attempt to address the controversial issue, Welby called on the bishops last year to love everyone, but he supported a resolution issued in 1998 rejecting homosexuality because it is not consistent with the Bible.

 

Homosexuality Is a Sin

In response to a question about the possibility of the Catholic Church blessing homosexual marriage, the Vatican issued in March 2021 a decree stating that this is not permissible because God cannot bless sin.

The answer came in two pages, was published in seven languages, and was endorsed by Argentine Pope Francis, as reported by CNN.

The Pope showed an open attitude toward homosexuals, stressing that they should be welcomed with respect in Catholic churches, and advised their parents not to reject them; however, he still strongly opposes their marriage.

Although the Vatican believes that homosexuals should be treated with dignity and respect, it considers that the matter involves a fundamental disturbance.

According to Catholic teachings, marriage is a lifelong union between a man and a woman as part of a divine plan aimed at continuing the wheel of life, which is the basis on which the new decree was based. Same-sex unions are not part of that plan and, therefore, cannot have the Church’s blessing.

Under the title Male and Female He Created Them, the Vatican office, which sets the official curriculum for Catholic educational institutions, issued a new document in June 2019 that rejects the scientific notion that gender identity is not fixed, describing it as nothing more than a confused conception of freedom in the realm of feelings and desires.

The document, signed by Cardinal leaders and Archbishop Angelo Zani, described current thinking about sexual identity as an attempt to annihilate the concept of nature.

In 2003, the Vatican passed a resolution saying that the Church’s respect for homosexuals could in no way lead to approval of same-sex conduct or legal recognition of same-sex unions.