Bishop of Oxford calls for change to allow gay marriage – Yahoo Eurosport UK
The Bishop of Oxford is the most senior bishop in the Church of England to have called for a change in doctrine to allow gay marriage.
Speaking on the Church of England’s new proposals that would allow gay couples to undergo a blessing in church after they have been married elsewhere, Bishop of Oxford Dr Steven Croft said: “It is very good for us to be able to say that the church can now offer public services of blessing, but we know that we have further to go.”
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The Archbishop of Canterbury has also “joyfully” welcomed the proposals to bless same-sex married couples, but said he will not personally carry them out due to his “pastoral responsibility for the whole communion”.
Justin Welby spoke as the Church of England issued a formal apology for its historic rejection and exclusion of LGBTQI+ people.
Plans to allow such blessings for the first time were outlined earlier this week, but the position on gay marriage will not change and same-sex couples will still be unable to marry at church.
The blessings have been welcomed by some as progress on what is a divisive issue but others – including the Bishop of Oxford – have said they do not go far enough.
Mr Welby said while he is “extremely joyfully celebratory” of the proposals, he will not offer them in his role as the highest-ranking religious leader of a church which has varying views on the subject.
He told a press conference at Lambeth Palace Library: “Because of my pastoral care and responsibility of being a focus of unity for the whole communion I will, while being extremely joyfully celebratory of these new resources, I will not personally use them in order not to compromise that pastoral care.”
Bishop of London Dame Sarah Mullally described the blessings move as a “significant change” but acknowledged it will be voluntary for clergy to decide whether they want to perform them, likening it to the situation with the marriage of people who have been divorced.
Asked if she will give blessings, she said: “For me, I take very few marriages because I’m a bishop, therefore the sense in which I will be in a situation where I will be asked for that? I don’t know.”
She said Mr Welby had made “a sacrificial step” in his decision not to use the new blessings which was “clearly the right one for him”.
She said she hoped that couples who approached a church that were not offering the prayers “would be generously welcomed and actually helped along the way to find the church nearest and that could offer it.”
This story was written by Matthew Norman, he joined the team in 2022 as a Facebook community reporter.
Matthew covers Bicester and focuses on finding stories from diverse communities.
Get in touch with him by emailing: Matthew.norman@newsquest.co.uk
Follow him on Twitter: @OxMailMattN1