Christians should “vote according to their conscience” and their view of what is best for society should a plebiscite on same-sex marriage be held, according to the Anglican Primate of Australia, Archbishop Philip Freier.
In a pastoral letter to Australia’s Anglican bishops, Archbishop Freier also said that if the vote at a plebiscite is in favour of same-sex marriage as opinion polls suggest, “the Church must accept that this is now part of the landscape”.
“We can still stand for and offer holy matrimony between a man and a women as a sacred ordinance given by God, while accepting that the state has endorsed a wider view of marriage – as, indeed, the state has endorsed de facto relationships by legislating similar protections to those offered by marriage for people in such relationships,” the Archbishop of Melbourne said.
“The doctrine of the Book of Common Prayer remains unchanged, that marriage is between a man and a woman, under God, forsaking all others until death parts them. I do not believe that the Anglican Church in Australia is likely to revise its doctrine of marriage.”
But the archbishop, noting that individual Anglicans have adopted a variety of positions on the matter “based on their Christian understanding of the principles and issues” – a situation he described as “right and proper”, said that the church also understood “the desire of two people to express their commitment of love and self-sacrifice to each other” and said Christians have not always shown the respect or perspective they should.
And while he personally welcomed a plebiscite on the issue, Archbishop Freier said he was “very concerned that the discussion does not become harsh or vilifying – on either side, for it is not only Christians who have sometimes failed on this score”.
“Whether this is a the threshold event that many in our church think or whether the widening of marriage happened many years ago and further widening is inevitable remains to be seen,” he wrote. “What does matter is that we approach this question with prayer, confidence in the Church’s teaching as well as kindness in our speech towards those with whom we disagree”.
For the full text of the letter, follow this link.
