Plea to respect ‘diversity’

More than a dozen clergy in the Church of England have married their gay partners, in direct defiance of church rulings and a decision made two years ago by the Archbishop of Canterbury.

The 14 clergy, along with other homosexual members of the laity, wrote a letter published in a Sunday newspaper calling for the College of Bishops to respect the “diversity” of beliefs within the church.

Equality campaigners also claim that 11 serving bishops are gay, including the Bishop of Grantham Nicholas Chamberlain, who this week became the first in the Church of England to publicly reveal he is in a same-sex relationship.

The church forbids marriage between same-sex partners, and will not carry out gay marriage services for the public.

But in the letter, the group called for individual parishes to have the freedom to choose whether to celebrate same-sex marriages.