There has been a stunning silence on the legal issues of civil partnerships from the C of I leadership with one notable exception.
Our recollection may be flawed, but the only serious comment on this issue from the leadership of the Church of Ireland, was made by the Bishop of Cork, Rt Rev Paul Colton at the diocesan synod last year where he called on the church to explore how it will support couples that have recently had a civil partnership in light of recent changes to legislation.
He asked how the church was going to respond to the changes.
He said the church now needed to look at how it would approach its pastoral response for church members who enter civil partnerships.
He said many gay people had been alienated or marginalised by their churches over the years.
“If you while away some idle moments on a social forum such as Twitter you will see the hurt, and sometimes the hostility too towards the churches. However, there are many gay people who have not abandoned church.
“They are actively involved in our pews, holding office, strong in Christian faith and, in some cases, still hanging in with the church as an institution in spite of the immense pain they have suffered in that very community which is meant to articulate the justice of God and the love of Jesus Christ,” he said.
The Bishop explained that clergy regularly visited the homes of parishioners, gay and straight, during their parochial rounds and he said he hoped that pastoral support was being offered by way of prayer and blessing.
“Now the possibility of civil partnership has opened up for same-sex couples. Over time, many of you, their close friends and fellow Christians, will be invited to join them on their special day. Some of you perhaps already have received such invitations. Clergy too will receive invitations to be present with them at this life moment,” he said.
“The question, one we cannot hope will go away, or one that we would prefer to sidestep by our inertia is this: What now is to be the Church’s response, pastorally and liturgically, in this new civil partnership scenario?”
The issue of civil partnerships is currently a focus in the UK:
The Lib Dems have said they will force the issue despite a Conservative group of MP’s who oppose David Cameron’s policy intention.
Also, a number of C of E parishes who are currently prevented from hosting same-sex partnership celebration, have stated they wish to be permitted to us e their buildings to perform civil partnerships.
These two issues will be the focus of future blogs.
Houston McKelvey
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Note:
Bishop Colton’s remarks above were reported by The Cork Independent
http://corkindependent.com/stories/item/2592/2011-24/New-scenario