Cardinal Keith O’Brien, in a homily given in early September at St. Patrick’s Church,
Edinburgh, said “the view of the Church is clear. No government can rewrite
human nature: the family and marriage existed before the state and are built
on the union between a man and a woman.”
Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland’s Deputy First Minister, said the government
“[tends] towards the view that religious ceremonies for civil partnerships
should no longer be prohibited and that same-sex marriage should be
introduced so that same-sex couples have the option of getting married if
that is how they wish to demonstrate their commitment to one another.”
The government has said it would like to hear from religious groups and
ordinary people, and has indicated religious organizations will be free to decide whether to
officiate at gay weddings.
A recent Scottish Social Attitudes survey showed that more than 60 percent
of Scots believe same-sex couples should have the right to marry, compared
with 19 percent who disagree; the rest said they don’t know. Some 66 percent
of Scotland’s population of 5 million describe themselves as Christians,
and about 690,000 are Catholic.
“What we have here is the start of a serious church-state confrontation,”
said Harry Reid, a former editor of Scotland’s The Herald and author of the
best-selling book “The Reformation: The Dangerous Birth of the Modern
World.”
“For many Catholics, the idea of gay men and lesbians marrying in churches
is just a step too far,” said Reid. “Already, some of the most important
leaders of the Catholic Church have said, ‘So far, no further.’ And there
are divisions in the Church of Scotland following plans to ordain gay men as
ministers. Whole congregations are threatening to break away later this year
and form their own groups.”
Other Christian groups, as well as Jewish, Muslim and Hindu leaders, said
they are considering the consultation but have not yet responded.
The Church of Scotland refused to comment because of its moratorium on the
gay ordination issue.
A spokeswoman for the small Scottish Episcopal Church said, “Our canon
relating to marriage states that marriage is a physical, spiritual and
mystical union of one man and one woman. The General Synod of the Scottish
Episcopal Church has not debated the question of same-sex marriage.”
Rachel Lampard, leader of a Methodist Church Joint Public Issues team, said, “The Methodist
Conference would have to vote in favor of civil partnerships taking place in Methodist churches
for the legislation to have any effect.”
“All the legal rights of marriage are already available to homosexual
couples through civil-partnership registrations,” said Mike Judge of the
Christian Institute in Scotland. “This is not about rights. This is about
redefining marriage for the whole of society at the behest of a small
minority of activists.”
