Despite the fact that the state will permit two people of the same gender to enter into a civil union effective Oct. 1, the Bishop of Connecticut said he was extending an already existing prohibition against same-sex blessings to include civil unions as well.

“We ourselves are not of one mind as a diocese, and we haven’t engaged the issues in a way that brings light rather than division,” the Rt. Rev. Andrew D. Smith said in a Sept. 19 letter to priests and bishops serving in Connecticut. “In promulgating this policy, I am aware that clergy of other denominations and faiths will officiate at civil unions and that our church will differ from legislated civil standards. And I am deeply aware of the inequality and anguish this policy brings to the lives and consciences of many faithful members.”

Bishop Smith said he voted to support the intent of the Windsor Report along with the overwhelming majority at the last meeting of the House of Bishops. “Part of that covenant we made was that none of us would authorize public rites concerning same-sex relationships at least until General Convention 2006,” he said. “We – bishops and priests – serve in this diocese as members of the Episcopal Church in the Anglican Communion. And we are bound together by our ordination vows and covenants we have made.”

In closing, Bishop Smith said laity and clergy “must address the theological, personal and evangelical questions before us, before General Convention meets next June,” and urged all members to participate in the regional discussions that will be offered in the diocese.

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