>> American Presbyterian church to recognize same-sex marriage
La plus importante des églises presbytériennes existant aux Etats-Unis a annoncé la nouvelle après que la majorité de ses 171 instances régionales ont validé ce changement. Sa nouvelle constitution considérera désormais le mariage comme un « engagement unique entre deux personnes, traditionnellement un homme et une femme », alors qu’elle mentionnait seulement un homme et une femme auparavant.
La nouvelle dénomination, qui avait été votée par l’assemblée générale de l’Eglise l’année dernière, devait être ratifiée par plus de la moitié de ses instances régionales. Le vote favorable d’un rassemblement de congrégations dans l’Etat du New Jersey a permis mardi d’atteindre cette majorité de 86 voix. Le texte entrera en vigueur le 21 juin prochain.
Cette décision risque de creuser le fossé entre les membres de l’Eglise presbytérienne américaine qui ont des vues divergentes en la matière.
Lors de son assemblée générale l’année dernière, l’Eglise presbytérienne avait également autorisé ses pasteurs à marier des couples homosexuels dans les Etats où de telles unions sont légales. La position des presbytériens tranche avec celle de l’Eglise catholique romaine et des chrétiens évangéliques fondamentalistes, qui sont opposés au mariage entre personnes du même sexe.
L’Eglise presbytérienne américaine − qui comptait 1,76 million de membres à la fin de 2013 répartis à travers 10 000 congrégations −, avait approuvé en 2011 l’ordination de membres de son clergé ouvertement homosexuels.
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>> The largest presbyterian group in the US has voted to recognize same-sex marriage, the latest sweeping move by the church to acknowledge it as Christian.
Presbyterian Church USA voted on Tuesday to amend its constitution to extend marriage rights from “a man and a woman” to “two people, traditionally a man and a woman”.
A majority of the church’s 171 governing bodies ruled in favor of the change, which will affect the church’s more than 1.7 million members, including those strongly opposed to marriage equality.
Individual pastors who oppose same-sex marriages can still opt out of performing same-sex marriage ceremonies or allowing them to be held in their church.
The group’s general assembly approved the constitutional amendment in 2014, but the “two people” measure needed to be ratified before the constitution could officially be changed. On Tuesday night, 87 had voted in favor, and 41 had voted against.
The church said the governing bodies reached their decisions after assessing the needs of their parishioners, the Bible and the church text, Book of Confessions.
In recent years, the church has adopted more inclusive policies: in 2011, it undid an anti-same-sex marriage amendment by allowing LGBT pastors in the church, and last year ministers began performing same-sex marriages in states where it is legal.
“These decisions have been welcomed by some and a disappointment to others,” Gradye Parsons, state clerk of the General Assembly, said in a statement.
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Indeed, the ever-more-progressive policies have alienated parishioners who oppose marriage equality.
Paul Detterman, national director of the Fellowship Community, a conservative group that opposes the decision, told the New York Times he expects the decision to drive practitioners out of the church. He said, however, that the vote might also compel people to stay in order to defend their stance.
“Our objection to the passage of the marriage amendment is in no way, shape or form anti-gay,” Detterman said. “It is in no way intended as anything but concern that the church is capitulating to the culture and is misrepresenting the message of Scripture.”
The Covenant Network of Presbyterians, which pushes for LGBT inclusion in the church, praised the amendment. “We rejoice that all couples can now see those relationships solemnized before God and the Christian community in marriage, at the discretion of ministers and sessions,” the group said in a statement.
It also acknowledged that the decision could cause “a deep sense of pain” for people who oppose it.
The constitutional change takes effect on 21 June. The US supreme court is due to rule on the legality of same-sex marriage by the end of that month.
AFP
