Two lesbian Episcopal priests kicked off the New Year by marrying in Massachusetts.
The Very Rev Katherine Hancock Ragsdale, dean and president of
Episcopal Divinity School, and Mally Lloyd, canon to the Ordinary,
married on Saturday at St Paul's Cathedral in Boston in front of nearly
400 guests.
The Rt Rev M Thomas Shaw, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of
Massachusetts, solemnised the marriage.
For orthodox Anglicans, the lesbian union was another act of defiance.
"This is another action of reckless disregard for the life of the
Anglican Communion and the authority of the Bible by The Episcopal
Church," the Rt Rev David C Anderson, president and CEO of the American
Anglican Council, told The Christian Post.
"They continue to ignore the
Communion’s pleas for restraint and continue to go their own way."
The Episcopal Church in the US defines marriage as a union between a
man and a woman.
But in 2009 the national body passed a resolution
allowing bishops, particularly those in civil jurisdictions where
same-sex marriage and civil unions are legal, to provide "generous
pastoral response to meet the needs of members of this church".
In the same year, Shaw gave the green light for clergy in the Diocese
of Massachussetts to solemnise all marriages. Same-sex marriage was
legalised in Massachusetts in 2004.
The blessing of same-sex unions within The Episcopal Church is
nothing new and such actions have drawn rebuke from the wider Anglican
Communion, which is comprised of more than 77 million members worldwide.
Anglican leaders worldwide agreed to a moratorium on the blessing of
same-sex unions in 2004.
They also agreed to practice restraint on the
consecration of bishops living in same-sex relationships.
But the US
body has continued to defy the moratoria to the frustration of
conservative Anglicans.
Robert H Lundy, spokesman for the American Anglican Council, noted
that The Episcopal Church has long blessed same-sex unions.
But the
latest union between Ragsdale, 52, and Lloyd, 57, is being touted as a
marriage, and the first lesbian marriage of two senior Episcopalian
clergy at that.
"For many people, this is splitting hairs," Lundy commented. "It may
be the first time it's being called a marriage, but it's nothing new.
"All this will do for others around the Communion is further
illustrate what we've been saying here," he said.
The AAC has long
stated that The Episcopal Church has departed from traditional Christian
and Anglican Communion teaching.
"For most people, they already broke the camel's back a long time ago," Lundy said.
Last year, The Episcopal Church consecrated its second openly gay
bishop despite calls by the wider Anglican Communion to practice
"gracious restraint".
As a consequence, The Episcopal Church was
suspended from participating in ecumenical dialogues and stripped of any
decision-making powers on the Inter-Anglican Standing Commission on
Unity, Faith and Order – a body that examines issues of doctrine and
authority.
SIC: CT/UK