The Church of England should allow same-sex marriage for both congregation and its clergy, a bishop has said. The Rt Rev Steven Croft, Bishop of Oxford, said he wanted to acknowledge the “acute pain and distress of LGBTQ+ people in the life of the Church”.
In a lengthy essay, the bishop said he was sorry that the church has been “so slow” to “reach better decisions and practice on these matters” and apologised for his own views being “slow to change”. But the bishop also said clergy must have the option not to opt in to any new arrangements, saying that it should be recognised that it is a “legitimate and honourable position” for those who want to keep a “traditional view of marriage and human sexuality”.
He wrote: “I need to acknowledge, right at the beginning of this essay, the acute pain and distress of LGBTQ+ people in the life of the Church. I am sorry that, corporately, we have been so slow as a Church to reach better decisions and practice on these matters.
