The Anglican Church has approved this Thursday in a vote the blessing of same-sex couples, although for the moment it maintains the prohibition to officiate any type of marriage.
The decision was taken after a vote following a long debate of up to eight hours spread over two days in which the «deep» divisions that exist within the Anglican Church, which expects to receive from summer onwards the visit of married couples to receive their blessings.
The approved motion will not only mean the blessing of those couples who so wish, but also a recognition of the «failure» of the institution for not having known how to welcome the LGBT community, as well as the damage it may have caused. However, each parish priest keeps the right to give, or not, the blessings.
The Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell, is one of the first who has advanced that he will «gladly» bless those couples who come to him, while the Bishop of London, Dame Sarah Mullally, has assured that the result of this vote is a «moment of hope for the Church».
In a joint statement Cottrell and the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, while welcoming the result, also acknowledged that it has generated «deep divisions» in the Church and lamented that it will be «very difficult» for many of their brothers and sisters.
While the position on same-sex marriage has not changed, some senior members of the Anglican Church have indicated that further debates on the issue are likely to take place in the future.
«We cannot and will not stop the debate. So I have no doubt that the debate will continue in one form or another,» Cottrell has assured. In that line, Mullally has expressed that the two currents within the Church «will want to continue to make their voices heard (…) and, therefore, there is no doubt that the conversations will continue».
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
