A diocese of Ottawa task force set up three years ago to study the implications of the blessing of same-sex unions did not recommend any action but said the issue depends on whether it is treated as doctrine.
The report was presented to the diocesan executive committee on Oct. 6 by the group, which was given its task by the diocesan synod in October, 2002.
The 19-page document referred to the “rapidly changing milieu” of society, including the legalization of same-sex marriage in Canada, the consecration of a bishop in the United States who is in a same-sex relationship and referral of the matter by the Canadian General Synod of 2004 to a theological committee.
Making it difficult for task force members to “sustain our collective energy for this task,” said the report, were developments in recent months at the global primates’ meeting, “strongly-worded criticisms from the international community,” and the impact of the Windsor Report and St. Michael Report. The latter, released by the Primate’s Theological Commission in May, 2005, said the blessing of same-sex unions should be considered a matter of doctrine, but not “core” or “creedal” doctrine.
