Hard-line bishops seek vote on same-sex marriage ban

THE Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, is facing a major rebellion over gay marriage after conservative bishops moved to hold their own unofficial vote on banning same-sex unions.

The bishops, dubbing themselves the Global South Fellowship, want the Lambeth Conference of Anglican bishops to condemn gay marriage and for churches that perform them to be sanctioned. The move to hold an unofficial vote comes after an attempt to include the rejection of same-sex marriages in the conference communiqué, dubbed the Lambeth Call, which will be voted on at the end of the conference.

This week, there was an attempt to insert language from the 1998 Lambeth Resolution, known as I.10, into the Call which asserts: “It is the mind of the Anglican Communion as a whole that same-gender marriage is not permissible.” It was replaced with a compromise statement after a backlash from liberal bishops from the US, Canada and the UK, triggering the Global South Fellowship to arrange its own vote.

The Global South Fellowship comprises bishops from dozens of countries and Anglican provinces, mostly in

Africa. At the conference, the Archbishop said that for “many years” the Anglican Communion had been known for its “internal disagreements”. He added: “Those questions, especially on the Christian and Anglican approach to human identity and sexuality, will not be solved at this conference.”

Bishops attending the conference will be invited to vote on the unofficial call by email. Those organising the move said that while they did not expect to win the backing of a majority of bishops, due to large numbers of clergy from the US, those voting in favour would represent 75 per cent of all Anglican worshippers.

After the announcement of the rebellion, Archbishop Welby agreed to meet with a delegation from the Global South Fellowship. They are hoping to convince him to allow I.10 to be discussed during the plenary session next week, which would allow an official vote on it.

The Church of England is prevented by law from conducting same-sex marriages, but the Episcopal Church in the United States, the Scottish Episcopal Church and the Brazilian Anglican church all conduct gay marriages, while the Church in Wales and several others bless them.