CALLS FOR JUSTIN WELBY TO RESIGN FOR UNDERMINING MARRIAGE

News

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, has faced calls to resign after he said he no longer accepts traditional Christian teaching on marriage.

In a statement on his official website, the senior churchman said he now “sincerely” believes that same-sex sexual intimacy is permissible in “stable, committed and faithful relationships”.

This is at odds with the Church of England’s current teaching, based on the Bible, that sexual intimacy is permissible only within man-woman marriage.

The bombshell statement was prompted by the backlash from an interview Welby gave earlier in the month to Alastair Campbell on the Rest is Politics podcast, where he reiterated plans to allow same-sex couples who get married to come to church for a blessing.

Welby and the bishops are also proposing to authorise standalone services that resemble same-sex weddings, for example by including prayers for the couple and their relationship, while claiming not to contravene Church teaching on marriage.

The proposal has plunged the Church of England into crisis as critics are not convinced by the bishops’ reassurances and see the initiative as a not-so-subtle way of bringing in same-sex weddings. Now, by publicly abandoning his Church’s teaching on marriage, Justin Welby has clearly lost many more people’s confidence.

As the UK’s largest pro-marriage organisation, C4M has tens of thousands of supporters from all faiths and none, including in the Church of England. We share their desire for the Church’s senior figures to believe and celebrate its longstanding commitment to real marriage.