Church of England priests offered officially sanctioned blessings of same-sex partnerships for the first time on Sunday, though a ban on church weddings for gay couples remains in place amid deep divisions within global Anglicanism over marriage and sexuality.
In one of the first ceremonies, the Rev. Catherine Bond and the Rev. Jane Pearce had their union blessed at St John the Baptist church, in Felixstowe, eastern England, where both are associate priests.
The couple knelt in front of Canon Andrew Dotchin, who held their heads as he gave "thanks for Catherine and Jane, to the love and friendship they share, and their commitment to one another as they come before you on this day."
The church's national assembly voted in February to allow clergy to bless the unions of same-sex couples who have had civil weddings or partnerships. The words used for the blessings, known as prayers of love and faith, were approved by the church's House of Bishops on Tuesday and used for the first time on Sunday.
The compromise was struck following five years of discussions about the church's position on sexuality. Church leaders offered an apology for the church's failure to welcome LGBTQ2S+ people, but also endorsed the doctrine that marriage is the union of one man and one woman. Clergy won't be required to perform same-sex blessings if they disagree with them.
The blessings can be used in regular church services. The church's governing body has also drawn up a plan for separate "services of prayer and dedication" for same-sex couples that would resemble weddings, but it has not yet been formally approved.
Public opinion surveys consistently show that a majority of people in England support same-sex marriage, which has been legal since 2013. The church didn't alter its teaching on marriage when the law changed.
Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby has said he won't personally bless any same-sex couples because it's his job to unify the world's 85 million Anglicans. Welby is the spiritual leader of both the Church of England and the global Anglican Communion of which it is a member.
Several Anglican bishops from Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Pacific said after the February decision that they no longer recognize Welby as their leader.
This Monday, Sept. 30 is the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation (NDTR), a federal statutory holiday and day of remembrance for the Indigenous children who never came home from Canadian residential schools, as well as those who survived them.
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A commemorative rally marking the fourth anniversary of Joyce Echaquan’s death will take place in Ville-Marie on Saturday afternoon.
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Witnesses on Monday reported the first Israeli airstrike in central Beirut in nearly a year of conflict, hours after Israel struck targets across Lebanon and killed dozens of people over the weekend.
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U.S. President Joe Biden said he would speak with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and believes that an all-out war in the Middle East must be avoided.
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The Liberal government is announcing more details on its existing strategy and funding to fight hate crimes.
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Canadian innovators and technical leaders gathered in Ottawa Thursday to demonstrate the latest cutting-edge technology.
SpaceX launched a rescue mission for the two stuck astronauts at the International Space Station on Saturday, sending up a downsized crew to bring them home but not until next year.
Trees haven't grown on the Falkland Islands for thousands of years. But tree trunks and branches preserved in peat suggest the islands were once home to a forest.
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Francis Ford Coppola’s decades-in-the-making, self-financed epic 'Megalopolis' flopped with moviegoers, while the acclaimed DreamWorks Animation family film 'The Wild Robot' soared to No. 1 at the weekend box office.
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When Annie Korver sits down with a new corporate or small business client, she encourages them to focus first on the 'truth' part of Truth and Reconciliation.
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Matt Perrault has shipped animals in and out of Canada on behalf of owners for more than two decades, handling creatures ranging from birds to bearded dragons, rabbits and ferrets.
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A crash between a car and motorcycle closed a portion of Oxford St. in downtown London for several hours on Sunday.
On Saturday night at her parents’ home in Delaware, Ont. the Olympic bronze medallist in pole vault welcomed everyone who played a role in getting her to the podium in Paris.
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A pedestrian has died after reportedly getting struck by an OPP cruiser in Bala early Sunday morning.
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The BSI aims to elevate Black academic excellence, promoting scholarship, mentorship, and cultural knowledge.
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Bullet casings recovered from the scene of a B.C. woman’s murder 30 years ago will be retested for DNA after the province’s highest court ruled it is “in the interests of justice†to do so in support of an ongoing appeal.
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Overnight on Thursday as the community of Elliot Lake was resting to prepare for the upcoming Kraft Hockeyville celebrations, when vandals struck a building that has been top of mind for the northern Ontario city for more than a year.
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Sault residents may notice some commotion on the Algoma University campus over the next two weeks as a team conducts an archaeological search.
A mother in a community where the cost of living is one of the highest in the country says grocery prices are 'inhumane' and retailers are putting profits ahead of people’s basic human right to food.
A soccer game in England on Tuesday night drove a spike in online traffic across the Atlantic to a website launched by the Newfoundland and Labrador government.
Newfoundland and Labrador sponsored a minor football team in England, now they’re about to play one of the biggest clubs in European soccer.
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