Discretion Recommended for British Civil Partnerships
12/17/2005

With Great Britain’s first same-sex civil unions set to be recognized under law on Dec. 21, an informal poll conducted by the advocacy group Changing Attitude suggests uneven enforcement of disciplinary procedures spelled out in a July 25 pastoral letter by the House of Bishops.

The new law on civil unions will allow same-sex couples to register their partnership with the state. Registration entitles the couple to most of the same civil benefits as heterosexual married couples. In the July 25 pastoral letter, the Church of England’s House of Bishops said the new law does not change doctrine or discipline.

“Sexual intercourse, as an expression of faithful intimacy, properly belongs within marriage exclusively,” the bishops said. Clergy may enter into a civil partnership, they added, provided they “give assurances to his or her bishop that the relationship is chaste. The letter further states that clergy should not provide services of blessing for other clergy or members of the laity who register a civil union. The rest