Anglican church leaders supported their Catholic counterparts' opposition to a U.K. government plan to enforce equal adoption rights for gay couples.Rowan Williams, the archbishop of Canterbury and leader of the world's 70 million Anglicans, wrote to Prime Minister Tony Blair saying Catholic adoption agencies should be allowed to opt out of a new anti-discrimination law which comes into force in England, Wales and Scotland in April and requires the agencies to consider gay couples as potential parents.
It followed a Jan. 22 letter to Blair from Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, archbishop of Westminster and leader of the Catholic church in England and Wales, which said adoption by gay couples was against the principles of Catholic teaching.
`The rights of conscience cannot be made subject to legislation, however well meaning,'' Williams said in his letter, which was also signed by the Anglican archbishop of York John Sentamu, the second most influential figure in the Anglican church. Introducing such legislation could result in religious people being unable to undertake valuable public service on grounds of conscience, the archbishops said.
The religious opposition leaves Blair with a dilemma. Members of his Cabinet and party are strongly in favor of the legislation which bans discrimination in providing goods, facilities and services because of sexual orientation. By exempting Catholic adoption agencies he would alienate many colleagues. If he refuses the request Blair, whose wife Cherie is a Catholic, risks losing thousands of Catholic votes.
Blair's Decision
`The prime minister will make up his mind on this,'' Blair's official spokesman Tom Kelly told reporters yesterday. ``He will do so having tried to work out what's the optimal solution.''
The 12 Catholic adoption agencies in England and Wales handle 32 percent of voluntary sector adoptions, according to Murphy-O'Connor's letter. Those agencies currently refer applications from gay couples to other non-Catholic agencies and he argued that should continue. If forced to consider gay couples the Catholic agencies may have to shut, he said.
`It would be an unnecessary tragedy if legislation forces the closure of these adoption services,'' he said. ``The outcome is wholly avoidable.''
Murphy-O'Connor denied accusations by gay rights activists that he was trying to blackmail ministers. ``I'm not blackmailing anybody,'' he told the British Broadcasting Corp. ``I am just saying to the government the possible consequences of carrying through these regulations.''
In their letter Williams and Sentamu drew comparison with the right of some doctors in the state-funded National Health Service not to carry out abortions on grounds of conscience.