Saturday, November 10, 2012

Justin Welby's Olive Branch to LGBT Community


From The Telegraph


The new Archbishop of Canterbury offered an olive branch to the gay community despite reaffirming his opposition to same-sex marriage.

Justin Welby, the Bishop of Durham, pledged to examine his own thinking on homosexuality "carefully and prayerfully" and spoke out against "exclusion".

Be he said he supported the Church's current stance on redefining marriage.

"I support the House of Bishop's statement in the summer in answer to the government's consultation on same sex marriage.

I know I need to listen very attentively to the LGBT communities, and examine my own thinking prayerfully and carefully.

The worldly capitalist looking to spread the Word of the Lord 08 Nov 2012

"I am always averse to the language of exclusion, when what we are called to is to love in the same way as Jesus Christ loves us. Above all in the church we need to create safe spaces for these issues to be discussed honestly and in love."

In his first comments since being announced as the successor to Dr Rowan Williams, he insisted he was "utterly optimistic" about the future of the Church despite there being "many millions" of people outside its influence.

He disclosed that his initial reaction to being offered the job was to think "oh no" but spoke of excitement to be leading the Church at a "time of spiritual hunger".

And he laughed off his Eton education saying he hoped he would not be "pigeon holed".

Bishop Welby, 56, will take over as leader of the world's 77 million Anglicans early next year succeeding Dr Rowan Williams, who steps down after Christmas.


Read it all here.


Related reading: Genesis and Homosex: Beyond Sodom



2 comments:

jdwoods76 said...

"Although the Church of England itself currently does not offer civil partnership blessings -officially at least – here are suggestions it could consider offering them as a compromise to prevent same-sex marriage."
This news is very sad. The C of E prefers a pragmatic businessman and politician, apparently. I truly begin to appreciate Catholic and Orthodox bishops.

Alice C. Linsley said...

Agreed.

In the West, civil partnerships are viewed as a civil right. In most European countries that now have civil partnerships extending to same-sex couples, this is never called "marriage" because even in the most "progressive" countries, like the Netherlands, there is still a sense that marriage pertains to a function of religion or the Church and to the tradition of husband and wife.