News: High-ranking Anglican priest "marries" his homosexual partner

(Coco, this one's for you...)

The news agency 365gay.com published today (August 1st) a story entitled ”Senior Gay Anglican Has Civil Partnership” (http://www.365gay.com/Newscon06/08/080106anglican.htm). It, in turn, relies on an article, ”Gay cleric 'marries' partner in secret”, published in The Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/08/01/nlesb201.xml).

The reported event is, in any case, that the Very Rev Jeffrey John, the Dean of St Albans (and therefore a very high-ranking Anglican), exchanged vows with the Rev Grant Holmes, a hospital chaplain. Dr John and Rev Holmes have been together for nearly 30 years.
The private event was deliberately low-key to avoid media attention, and only a few witnesses were in attendance. It is not thought that the civil ceremony was followed by any form of religious blessing, but it is understood that the couple wore clerical collars. Members of the cathedral's congregation were informed about the union on Sunday, which gives Dr John and Rev Holmes almost the same legal rights as a married couple.

The Anglican Church is not permitted under the civil partnership law from preventing its clergy from marrying but the event is likely to stir up conservatives still angry over the election of Gene Robinson as bishop of New Hampshire in the United States.
Shortly after Robinson's elevation to bishop the Anglican Church named Dr John to be Bishop of Reading. Following an outcry from conservatives John declined the appointment and was subsequently named Dean of St. Albans.
Dr John is not barred from entering a civil partnership under guidelines issued by the House of Bishops last year because he says that he and his partner no longer engage in sexual activity. The guidelines said that clergy could enter into such unions if they assure their bishop that they are celibate. (Personally, I find that odd, but then, I'm not Anglican...)

But conservative leaders in Africa and Asia are certain to complain to the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, that such a senior figure has taken advantage of the change in the law which, they argue, is unbiblical and weakens traditional Church teaching.
The Bishop of St. Albans, the Rt Rev Christopher Herbert, said that he believed that civil partnerships were "a matter of justice, reflecting a society of difference and change".

In May, I blogged about two gay Swedish pastors, Lars Arnell and Lars Gårdfeldt, who were married in Canada, and now applied for recognition of their marriage in Sweden (http://karlafhallstrom.blogspot.com/2006/05/uutinen-ruotsalaiset-homopapit.html).
The Telegraph reports about a parallel case in England, where the lesbian couple in question lost their court battle. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;jsessionid=A5KMU54JOF1ORQFIQMFSFFWAVCBQ0IV0?xml=/news/2006/08/01/nlesb01.xml