News for Week Ending 8/27/2012

English bishop announces support for gay marriage

The London Evening Standard reported August 23, 2012, that Church of England Bishop of Buckingham Alan Wilson has posted a YouTube video supporting gay marriage. The video is part of the Out4Marriage campaign. The Evening Standard noted that Wilson is married and father of five, suggesting that he is not gay.

The Wilson statement was denounced as “a disgraceful and disingenuous distortion of biblical teaching by someone who ought to know better” by a spokesman for Keep Marriage Special. A representative of the Church of England emphasized that the church maintains that marriage should be between a man and a woman.

Roman Catholic archbishop breaks off discussions with Scottish first minister

In response to the government’s plan to introduce a gay marriage bill—see Pittsburgh Update story here—Cardinal Keith O’Brien has broken off talks with Scotland’s First Minister Alex Salmond. On Sunday, August 26, 2012, a letter on same-sex marriage from the Bishops’ Conference of Scotland was read in all Roman Catholic churches. The letter criticizes the government and announces the formation of the Commission for Marriage and the Family to support the church’s position on marriage.

The BBC covered this story here. In an August 27 profile, The Independent suggests that O’Brien, with his strongly worded statements supporting the letter of official church doctrine, may be campaigning to become the next Pope.