The controversy regarding homosexuality in the Church and same-sex civil unions reached new levels at the weekend as one of Wiltshire’s most prominent religious figures took part in a civil partnership ceremony on Saturday.
Canon Jeremy Davies of Salisbury Cathedral formally and legally registered his homosexual relationship in the city, which will see him and his partner given similar legal rights as traditional heterosexual married couples.The Civil Partnership Act came into force in December 2005, and ceremonies began taking place in various sites across England since Dec. 21st.
Canon Davies registered his long-term relationship in a ceremony that was held in private, and was combined with the Canon’s 60th birthday celebrations.
The highly controversial law introduced last month means that any homosexual couple that wants to form a partnership recognised by the law, must register their intentions with their local council. However, the legislation stops clearly short of creating a married couple, and therefore, unlike marriages the signing of the legal papers for a civil partnership does not need to take place in public.
The rights enjoyed by those signing up for civil partnerships include similar tax and inheritance benefits as married couples.
The Church of England still bans same-sex marriage and even homosexual unions are highly controversial in the Churches across the globe.Marriage is a God-given institution between a man and a woman in which children are born and nurtured so that human society may flourish. The Civil Partnership Act 2005 is both confusing and unjust. It is confusing because it obscures the vital distinction between same-sex relationships and marriage.
Anglican Mainstream
Just weeks after the controversial law came into force, the most senior Roman Catholic in Scotland spoke out to accuse cabinet ministers in London and Edinburgh of devaluing family life by allowing the Civil Partnership Act to pass.
Cardinal Keith O’Brien said, that the family remained “the basic social unit” which should be recognised, protected and promoted a capstone of society.
“When our lawmakers condone and endorse trends in society which are ultimately ruinous of family life we are entitled to question their motivation and condemn their behaviour,” he told his congregation.
