Monday, March 19, 2012

Same-sex marriage: Catholics say "no", Anglicans say "maybe"

The Church? 

It should be "at the forefront and show love for all instead it is backward". 

The statement of the Reverend Stephen Dando, Anglican, taken with evidence from the weekly Church Times, opens the debate on homosexual unions. 

An issue on which the Catholic Church and the Anglican Church hold different positions.  

 The first is strongly opposed, the second in more in favour, even if with some caveats. 

So far the discussions of both confessions have targeted the bill and have not expanded outwards.  

However, differences have emerged. 

The Catholic bishops are unanimously sided against any kind of legalization, reiterating the doctrine of marriage between a man and a woman as a sacrament ordained by God. 

A theme insisted upon a few days ago by Benedict XVI in his speech to a group of U.S. bishops visiting the Vatican Ad Limina. 

The progressive British Catholic weekly The Tablet dedicated a dossier to this subject opened by the Dominican Timothy Radcliffe, former superior general of his congregation, author of popular books and a speaker who is listened to. Radcliffe pointed out precisely that "the Church is not opposed to gay marriage. 

It simply considers it impossible", and in the Catholic vision "marriage is founded on sexual difference and openness to fertility”. 

"The God of love - Radcliffe argues - is present in every true love. But 'gay marriage' is impossible because it wants to sever the roots of our biological life.  If we did this, we would deny our humanity.  It would be like trying to cook a soufflé without cheese or make wine without grapes”.  

Different is the position taken by Martin Pendergast, founder of Cutting Edge Consortium, in favour of civil rights of the homosexual world. 

"At the basis of civil unions – he notes - is the equality of persons in a mutual agreement rather than a commitment of submission one to the other. Equality in same-sex couples builds civil unions in the common good”.  

In the Anglican world positions are different.

The chaplain of the North Middlesex University Hospital, Reverend Dominic Fenton, explained that "the Church has no right to oppose" the government's proposals. 

Other opinions, collected by the Anglican weekly Church Times, which opened a public debate, expressed themselves in favour of same-sex unions.   

In short, on ethical issues the gap between the two confessions is bound to cause discussions.