The Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby has written to every primate in the Anglican Communion to set out his hopes for the next Primates' Meeting, which will take place in Canterbury in October. He also gave details of last week's report by the Church of England's House of Bishops on human sexuality. In the letter, Archbishop Justin sets out his vision for the meeting in Canterbury as an opportunity for relaxed fellowship and mutual consultation. He invites the primates to submit items for the agenda and says he's aware of the pressures under which many of them live.
In the News
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February 1st, 2017
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February 1st, 2017
In the very second that the clock struck midnight and the Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran Church’s new liturgy allowing gay couples to marry in church weddings came into force, Kjell Frølich Benjaminsen and Erik Skjelnæs tied the knot in Eidskog Church.
A church synod voted on Monday to approve the new liturgy, or service, allowing same-sex couples to get married in the church.
At the stroke of midnight, Benjaminsen and Skjelnæs stood before the altar and made their vows in front of pastor Bettina Eckbo, who led the historic ceremony.
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February 1st, 2017
On Tuesday, officials in the Japanese city of Sapporo unveiled a draft of guidelines for recognizing same-sex partnerships.
While Japanese law defines marriage as between a man and a woman, in 2015 Tokyo’s Shibuya district announced it would recognize same-sex couples in regards to housing, hospital visitations and other situations, with a “proof of partnership” certificate. That same year, Tokyo’s Setagaya Ward also granted recognition to gay couples. Several municipalities, such as Iga, Mie Prefecture, Takarazuka, Hyogo Prefecture, and Naha, Okinawa Prefecture, have followed suit.
Sapporo would be the first major city in Japan to do so, however, and the first to recognize the relationships of gender-nonconforming citizens.
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January 31st, 2017
A year ago, Judge Neil M. Gorsuch was midway down a ski slope when his cellphone rang. Justice Antonin Scalia, he was told, had died.
"I immediately lost what breath I had left," Judge Gorsuch said in a speech two months later. "And I am not embarrassed to admit that I couldn’t see the rest of the way down the mountain for the tears."
President Trump, in nominating Judge Gorsuch to the Supreme Court, has chosen a judge who not only admires the justice he would replace but also in many ways resembles him. He shares Justice Scalia's legal philosophy, talent for vivid writing and love of the outdoors.
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January 31st, 2017
Doctors have used a brain-reading device to hold simple conversations with "locked-in" patients in work that promises to transform the lives of people who are too disabled to communicate.
The groundbreaking technology allows the paralysed patients – who have not been able to speak for years – to answer "yes" or "no" to questions by detecting telltale patterns in their brain activity.
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January 31st, 2017
Advocates said on Tuesday they were bracing for a Trump administration rollback of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights, despite a White House statement vowing to uphold protection for LGBT people in the workplace.U.S. President Donald Trump will continue to enforce a 2014 executive order by his Democratic predecessor, Barack Obama, barring discrimination against LGBT people working for federal contractors, the White House said.
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January 31st, 2017
Despite Planned Parenthood’s claims that women depend on them for prenatal care, new videos reveal the nation’s largest abortion provider primarily uses its ultrasound machines for abortions only and its employees even refuse to tell women about their babies’ health.
In the first video, Live Action News’s Lila Rose sits down with several former Planned Parenthood employees who explain how the clinics used the ultrasound machines.
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January 31st, 2017
Taiwan is on the verge of making history and becoming the first Asian country to allow same-sex marriage.
A legislative committee approved a marriage equality bill on Dec. 26, the first big victory in a process that will likely last at least until midyear. Supporters say they have the endorsement of a bipartisan group of almost half of parliament. Marriage equality also has the backing of President Tsai Ing-wen, who campaigned on the issue.
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January 31st, 2017
A gay man from Guernsey has refused to pay for the upkeep of his parish church because of its "homophobic stance on gay marriage".
In the Channel Islands the upkeep of churches is paid for through Parish Rates, which everyone has to pay.
But Leo Thomas said he finds it "extremely questionable" he should pay for a church that "openly discriminates against the gay community".
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January 31st, 2017
The Church of England has appointed as the new bishop of Sheffield a clergyman who opposes the ordination of women.
Philip North, from the traditionalist Anglo-Catholic wing of the C of E, is being promoted from his position as bishop of Burnley, where he has championed people who are economically and socially marginalised.