Live
Audio Only
France's Unified Protestant Church adopted a resolution Sunday for its priests to bless same-sex marriages.
During its yearly assembly which took place on International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia, 94 delegates voted in favor of the proposal and three against.
The Church’s President Laurent Schlumberger welcomed the decision to “take a step in accompanying people and couples by opening the possibility to celebrate liturgical blessings if they want to.”
Coming two years after the country’s Taubira law that legalized same-sex marriages in France, the proposition will enable Protestants – who represent 2 percent of the French population – to be blessed in a temple. Previously, only the Popular Evangelical Mission, a much smaller branch of the Protestant Church, allowed a “liturgical gesture of welcome and prayer” for homosexual couples.
Same-sex marriage has been a divisive issue in Protestant churches, with more liberal ones such as Sweden's and Denmark's approving gay weddings, while more conservative ones remain fully opposed to them.
On Friday, Ireland is holding a referendum on same-sex marriage and could become the first country to legalize it through a popular vote. Twelve European nations have already legalized same-sex marriages and 12 others recognize civil unions between persons of the same sex.
Newsletter
