Civil partnerships will not be forced on Church, says May

by Ed Beavan and Simon Sarmiento
18 February, 2011
Church Times

THE Government announced this week that it plans to allow religious buildings to be used to host the registration of civil partnerships for same-sex couples.

The proposals, from the Govern­ment Equalities Office (GEO), emphasised that any changes would be “entirely voluntary”, and would not “force any religious group to host civil partnership registrations if they do not wish to do so”.

But the announcement received mixed reactions from Churches. The Church of England warned that such changes could lead to “inconsist­encies with civil marriage, have unex­plored impacts, and lead to confu­sion”. The Bishops had “consistent­ly been clear that the Church of En­gland should not provide services of blessing for those who register civil partnerships”. the rest