Diocese of Montreal Bishop wants “Whole World” on board with Same-Sex Marriage

Aug 31, 2018 by Jill

By Jonathan Widell, Virtueonline:

Same-sex marriage is a hotly debated issue in the Anglican Church of Canada. Especially now that the General Synod voted in favour of it in 2016 with the narrowest of margins and the advocates of same-sex marriage are getting ready to finalize the change of the marriage canon when the General Synod convenes again next year. Only if the changes are approved a second time will the marriage canon be changed.

Needless to say, the intervening period is marked by intense politicking. Most of the politicking is done by the advocates, as is demonstrated by the pervasiveness of those efforts in the Diocese of Montreal.

It is the position of Bishop Mary Irwin-Gibson that she can’t wait “for the whole world to be on board with same-sex marriage” so she can and must act proactively. Her proactive approach is reflected on all levels. Of course, new priests to be ordained have to follow her lead on this because priests promise to be loyal to their bishops at the time of their ordination. Indeed, the Vicar-General of the said Diocese told me that opposition to same-sex marriage would be a “problem” with a view to ordination. He explained that, of course, the Diocese values diversity but implied that newly ordained priests cannot afford being diverse.