Ottawa bishop seeks approval for same-sex blessings

Art Babych
Oct 27, 2008

The bishop of Ottawa wants to open the door to same-sex blessings in his diocese and will ask permission from the Canadian house of bishops at its meeting Oct. 27-31.

“It is important that I honour the collegiality of the Canadian house," said Bishop John Chapman at the opening of the annual synod of the diocese of Ottawa in Christ Church Cathedral Oct. 23. "We are, after all, an episcopally-led and synodically-governed church."

The bishops are expected to discuss tomorrow the Canadian Anglican church's response to renewed proposals for moratoria on the blessing of same-sex unions, the ordination of persons living in same-sex unions to the episcopate, and cross-border interventions. The proposals were made at the 2008 Lambeth Conference, the once-per-decade meeting of bishops from around the world, in response to bitter divisions among Anglicans over the contentious issue of homosexuality. the rest