Church of England does not support Homosexual marriage
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| Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, visited his work and held a press conference. (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
Prime minister David Cameron's government wants to extend the full legal status of marriage to homosexual people, who since 2005 have been able to contract unions known as civil partnerships.
The plan has provoked anger from church leaders including the head of the Roman Catholic Church in England and some within Mr Cameron's own Conservative party, who accuse the government of interfering in religious matters.
In its formal response to the proposals, the Church of England said the move would change the "intrinsic nature of marriage as the union of a man and a woman".
"Several major elements of the government's proposals have not been thought through properly and are not legally sound," the church said in its official response.
"The consultation overlooks the implication of what is proposed for the position of the established church.
"We also believe that imposing for essentially ideological reasons a new meaning on a term as familiar and fundamental as marriage would be deeply unwise."
The Church of England said it was doubtful that a refusal to let same sex couples marry in their churches would withstand a challenge in the European Court of Human Rights.
It said changing the way marriage was defined by the state would change the definition for everyone and impact the nature of marriages solemnised in churches or other places of worship.
The row comes at a difficult time for the Church of England, which is grappling with the deeply divisive issue of whether to allow women bishops, which has put traditionalists and liberals at odds.
It is also in the process of choosing a new Archbishop of Canterbury, the spiritual leader of the Anglican Communion, to replace the outgoing Rowan Williams next year.
