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Anglican Church of Canada Decides to Abandon Plan to Bless Homosexual Unions…For Now

Elects New Primate for Canada: Open to Blessing Same-Sex Unions

ST. CATHARINES, June 2, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The Anglican Church of Canada has withdrawn a proposal to bless homosexual unions. At their national General Synod this week, Anglican bishops and representatives from dioceses across Canada participated in the debate. The divisive issue was sparked in Canada by bishop Ingham, who authorized same-sex blessings for his diocese of New Westminster, British Columbia, in 2002. The dispute crossed international boundaries, incited by the ordination of an actively homosexual bishop, Gene Robinson, for the U.S. Episcopalian Church.

At an international synod in 1998, bishops declared homosexual unions and the ordination of openly homosexual clergy as "incompatible with Scripture." Both the acting Canadian Anglican Primate, Archbishop Michael Peers, and the Primate-elect, elected Monday as Canada's new Primate, Archbishop Andrew Hutchison of Montreal, took issue with the decision and soon after published a formal apology to Canadian homosexuals, promising to "work for [their] full inclusion in the life of the church."

The proposition before the Synod had proposed that the decision to bless homosexual unions be left up to each individual bishop for their own diocese. Primate-elect Hutchison was one of five Canadian archbishops to oppose the interference by other bishops of Ingham's decision to open the doors to homosexual unions in New Westminster, B.C.

Bishop Frank Griswold, the U.S. bishop who consecrated Gene Robinson for the U.S. Episcopalian Church, is scheduled to preach at Hutchinson's formal installation in Toronto Friday.

Archbishop David Crawley, the Acting Primate, in his opening address to General Synod Friday, urged participants to move away from the "harsh, vituperative and unacceptable" language that has often been used on both sides of the debate over the blessing of same-sex unions.

"We all feel deeply about this issue," Interim Archbishop Crawley said, "but that is no excuse to descend into the depths. The judgmentalism and the profoundly personal nature of some comments, both private and public, could never reflect the nature of the Realm of God, no matter what you understand it to be."

The decision to abandon the plan to bless same-sex unions is not dead - it has simply been deferred until the next General Synod in 2007.

Read related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:
World Leader of Anglicans Acknowledges Massive Split Coming Over 'Gay'
Bishop

http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2003/oct/03101706.html

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