The Church of England told the Government that it should
have “unfettered freedom” to decide whether to permit civil partnerships
on church premises.
In its submission on the last day of a Government consultation on the
issue, the Church said its objective was to ensure that amendments to
existing legislation continue to provide “unfettered freedom for each
religious tradition to resolve these matters in accordance with its own
convictions and its own internal procedures of governance”.
The consultation follows Parliament’s announcement last year that it
planned to lift the prohibition on the registration of civil
partnerships in places of worship.
The decision was welcomed by some faith groups, including the
Quakers, but strongly opposed by some Christians who expressed fears
that churches would be forced to conduct the ceremonies against their
will.
William Fittall, Secretary General of the General Synod and
Archbishops’ Council, who drafted the Church’s submission, said: “For
most Christian denominations as well as other faith groups the issues
involved are set to remain sensitive and, to varying degrees,
contested.”
“We judge that the approach taken in the consultation paper should be
capable of delivering the opt-in approach that we support, given the
decision Parliament has already taken.”
Whilst the amendment to legislation states that “religious
organisations” will not be obliged to conduct civil partnership
ceremonies on their premises, Mr Fittall said there needed to be further
clarification on which faith groups qualify as religious organisations
and the buildings that constitute religious premises.
He added: “There needs to be an ‘opting in’ mechanism of the kind that the Government has proposed.
“In the case of the Church of England that would mean that its
churches would not be able to become approved premises for the
registration of civil partnerships until and unless the General Synod
had first decided as a matter of policy that that should be possible."
Speaking in the House of Lords, the Bishop of Bradford the Rt Rev
David James warned that the amendment could “muddle” the distinction
between civil partnerships and marriage.
Lord Waddington expressed a similar concern and spoke of the risk to
churches that do not wish to conduct civil partnership ceremonies on
their premises.
“For my part, I cannot support an amendment that blurs the
distinction between civil partnership and marriage, particularly when we
were all assured when the Civil Partnership Act was going through
Parliament that the distinction was crucial and would be maintained, not
least by keeping civil partnerships within the secular field,” he said.
“I am not at all impressed by the argument that all we are talking
about is allowing bodies to conduct civil partnerships within their
religious premises, with the new clause making plain that no obligation
is placed on religious organisations to register civil partnerships.
“If this amendment were carried, it would only be a matter of time
before it was argued that it was discriminatory for a church incumbent
to refuse to allow a civil partnership ceremony to take place when the
law allowed it.”
Synod member the Rev Canon Jonathan Ford told Premier Christian Radio
that he feared an exodus from the Church of England if the governing
body were to vote to allow the ceremonies.