DURHAM: Bishop says he cannot support same-sex blessings
The Rt Revd Dr NT Wright
12.xii.05

Dear Friends
Warm greetings to you all on a chilly December day. I have been sparing with the Ad Clerum genre over the last two years, but I think it's time to start making amends. And there is a pressing matter about which you need to know how things are shaping up.

Last week the Civil Partnerships Act came into force, and couples of the same sex are now able to apply to register as Partners, with various tax and inheritance benefits very similar to those applying to married couples. After a short waiting period, registrations will take place, beginning on December 21.

The government has insisted that this is not 'gay marriage'. It is open to people who intend a long-term friendship and sharing of life with no romantic or sexual element.

The church has always valued and celebrated friendship and personal commitment and loyalty, and it would be wrong to collude with the over-sexualisation of our society by supposing that all such friendships are 'really' sexual. That is why the House of Bishops, in the Guidelines issued last summer, agreed that it might well be acceptable for clergy to enter such partnerships.
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