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Anglican Church To Debate Same-sex Marriage Today

Published

3 years ago

February 8, 2023

The Church of England will on Wednesday debate contentious plans enabling priests to offer blessings to same-sex couples, amid deep Anglican divisions over the issue in Britain and beyond.

Hundreds of members of the General Synod — the Church’s elected governing body, which meets two or three times a year — will discuss and vote on the proposals unveiled last month by bishops.

There is no change to rules banning Anglican priests from officiating at weddings of same-sex couples. But under the proposals, they could offer “God’s blessing” for civil marriages or civil partnerships in a church.

In an open letter, bishops also issued an unprecedented apology directly to LGBTQ people last month for the sometimes “hostile and homophobic response” they have faced in parishes.

The steps follow nearly six years of internal debate, but have sparked criticism from both those who support and oppose same-sex marriage, as global fractures within Anglicanism surface.

A Synod member and LGBTQ campaigner, Jayne Ozanne, issued a stinging condemnation of the belated apology.

“We’ve had years of apologies from our bishops but no action,” she told AFP, ahead of Wednesday’s five-hour scheduled debate.

“It’s like an abusive relationship where someone keeps hitting you and then says ‘I’m sorry, I’m sorry’.

“Until the discrimination and the abuse stop, we don’t want to hear more empty words. We need action first.”

– ‘Broken fellowship’ –
But the conservative Church of England Evangelical Council has railed against the reforms.

It says they will create “further division and broken fellowship” within the Church, and “a greater tearing of the fabric of the worldwide Anglican Communion”.

“We believe that the responsibility of the Church of England is to serve the nation by proclaiming the gospel, not by compromising with prevailing culture,” it said in a statement last month.

The Church of England has been under political pressure to reform its approach to same-sex marriage ever since it became legal in England in 2013.

Although dozens of other countries have legalised same-sex unions, homosexuality remains banned in many parts of the world.

That includes in highly religious and conservative countries in sub-Saharan Africa, which help make up the Anglican Communion of 43 Churches in 165 countries.

It boasts around 85 million members, and is the third largest Christian communion after the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches.

– ‘Passionately held differences’ –
A rift appears to have emerged between Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby and some of these Anglican churches, which often support tougher curbs on the LGBTQ community rather than liberalising existing doctrine.

“We have deep and passionately held differences,” Welby conceded Monday as he opened the four-day Synod.

“But let us not fall into caricaturing those among us who don’t agree with us as being those who are trying to construct their lives away from God. The evidence is far from that.”

Welby went on to warn that “too many people, especially around sexuality, have heard the words of rejection that human tongues create”.

Although the plans to be debated Wednesday afternoon do not change Church of England law, and so do not require formal Synod approval, members will vote on a motion of support and amendments put forward.

A rejection of the proposals could make it practically impossible for them to proceed.

The Church of England is not the only major Christian communion confronting major tensions on the issue, with the Catholic Church also plagued by divisions.

Pope Francis has stirred controversy with his relatively liberal attitude towards sexual orientation, which is at odds with the beliefs of many Catholic conservatives.

But the pope has also frustrated modernisers by sticking firmly to Catholic teaching that marriage is the union between a man and a woman.

AFP

Related Topics:Anglican church Marriage same sex

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Headline

Court Jails Two For Targeting President With Sorcery

Published

10 hours ago

September 15, 2025

Editor

A Zambian court on Monday sentenced two men to two years in prison with hard labour on charges of attempting to use witchcraft to kill the country’s president.

Mozambican national Jasten Mabulesse Candunde and Zambian village chief Leonard Phiri were arrested in December in possession of charms, including a live chameleon.

Police said they planned to use the charms to harm President Hakainde Hichilema, and they were charged with professing knowledge of witchcraft and possession of charms.

“The motive of the crime was to kill the head of state,” magistrate Fine Mayambu ruled in the capital Lusaka on Monday.

“The convicts were not only enemies of the head of state but all Zambians. I therefore sentence them to 24 months imprisonment with hard labour from the date of their arrest,” he said.

The prosecution said the men had been hired by the brother of opposition MP Emmanuel “Jay Jay” Banda, who is facing trial for robbery, attempted murder and escaping custody.

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Two Nigerians Face Jail Terms In Liberia’s Piracy Trial

Published

10 hours ago

September 15, 2025

Editor

Criminal Court ‘D’ in Monrovia is set to deliver judgment this week in Liberia’s first piracy trial, involving two Nigerian nationals accused of hijacking a cargo vessel in the Gulf of Guinea.

According to court records, the defendants were arrested earlier this year after a Liberia-flagged ship was seized by armed men while transporting goods through international waters. The crew sent a distress signal, prompting international maritime forces to intervene.

The suspects were subsequently transferred to Liberian authorities under global maritime cooperation protocols.

According to Liberia’s news platform, Front Page Africa, the case has attracted attention because Liberia maintains one of the world’s largest open ship registries, yet prosecutions for piracy within its domestic courts have not previously occurred. Under international law, Liberia holds jurisdiction over crimes involving ships registered under its flag.

On Monday, proceedings took a new turn when defense lawyer, Cllr. Bestman Juah, informed the court that the defendants had admitted responsibility for the hijacking and were requesting a plea-bargain arrangement. State prosecutors did not oppose the request, leaving open the possibility of reduced sentences in exchange for full cooperation.

Resident Judge Mameita Jabateh-Sirleaf, who presides over Criminal Court ‘D’, will rule on whether to accept the plea deal and determine the sentencing framework. The ruling could also address deportation measures following imprisonment.

Criminal Court ‘D’ handles cases involving armed robbery, terrorism, hijacking, and other serious crimes, and the piracy trial represents a growing trend of transnational offenses being prosecuted within Liberia’s judicial system.
As of press time, the court has not announced the date for sentencing.

Headline

Spain Cancels $825m Israel Arms Deal Over Gaza

Published

10 hours ago

September 15, 2025

Editor

The Spanish government has cancelled a contract worth nearly 700 million euros ($825 million) for Israeli-designed rocket launchers.

The move comes after Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced last week that his government would “consolidate in law” a ban on military equipment sales or purchases with Israel over its offensive in Gaza.

The contract, awarded to a consortium of Spanish companies, involved the purchase of 12 SILAM rocket launcher systems derived from the PULS platform made by Israeli firm Elbit Systems, according to the International Institute for Strategic Studies’ Military Balance.

First reported by local media and the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, the cancellation was formalised on Spain’s official public contracts platform on September 9.

The following day, Sanchez unveiled measures aimed at stopping what his leftist government called “the genocide in Gaza”.

It includes the approval of a decree imposing a ban on military equipment sales or purchases with Israel due to its military offensive in Gaza, launched after the Hamas attacks in October 2023.

Spain applied the ban as Israel stepped up its military onslaught.

Spain has also formalized the cancellation of another contract for 168 anti-tank missile launchers, which were to be manufactured under license from an Israeli company.

That contract, valued at 287 million euros, had been first reported by the press in June.

According to Spanish daily La Vanguardia, the government is undertaking a broader review to phase out Israeli weapons and technology from its armed forces.

Sanchez has emerged as one of Europe’s most outspoken critics of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Gaza policy.

Relations between the two countries have been tense for months.

Israel has not had an ambassador in Spain since Madrid recognized the state of Palestine in 2024.

Last week, Spain recalled its ambassador to Israel after heated exchanges over Sánchez’s new measures.

The Barcelona-based Delas Centre, a security research institute, estimated in April that since the start of the Gaza war, Spain had awarded 46 contracts worth $1.044 billion to Israeli companies, based on public tender data.