By Ron Csillag
Religion News Service

Windsor, Ontario, April 28 - Canada’s Anglican bishops have unanimously agreed to a moratorium on future church blessings of same-sex relationships, a decision that gives the church two years to study the issue.

Meeting here April 25-27, the bishops agreed “neither to encourage nor to initiate the use of such rites until General Synod (the church’s highest governing body) has made a decision on the matter.” The next General Synod is scheduled for 2007.
However, the bishops said they affirmed “the place of gay and lesbian persons in our church and give thanks for their contribution to its life and witness.”

The bishops also reluctantly agreed to honor a request from Anglican church leaders that the U.S. and Canadian churches “voluntarily withdraw” their members from a global steering body that helps set policy for the Anglican Communion.

Archbishop Andrew Hutchison, the church’s primate, on Wednesday said the moratorium would need the approval of the church’s Council of General Synod, a smaller version of a General Synod but with similar powers, when it meets outside Toronto May 6-8.

Two Canadian dioceses have voted to approve blessings for same-sex couples. Last November, the Niagara diocese voted 213-106 in favor, but Bishop Ralph Spence withheld his required endorsement for the measure to take effect.

Bishop Michael Ingham approved same-sex blessings in the British Columbia diocese of New Westminster in 2002, causing an international uproar.

Last spring, the national church affirmed the “integrity and sanctity” of same-sex relationships but stopped short of authorizing blessing ceremonies for gay couples.

The Canadian bishops, representing the 30 dioceses of the church in Canada, acknowledged that some decisions in individual Canadian dioceses have caused “distress.”

The leader of the Anglican Communion, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, thanked the Canadian bishops for their “courteous” response.

“Their constructive approach provides a positive basis for further engagement with the questions facing our Communion,” he said in a statement.

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