UNITED KINGDOM
The Guardian
[Archbishop Justin’s presidential address to General Synod – Archbishop of Canterbury]
Sam Jones
guardian.co.uk, Friday 5 July 2013
The archbishop of Canterbury has used his first General Synod address to warn the Church of England that, whether it likes it or not, “a revolution in the area of sexuality” is underway in society.
In a presidential address containing inescapable echoes of Harold Macmillan’s famous “wind of change” speech – which heralded the advent of African independence – the archbishop told the York synod that the recent debate over same-sex marriage had shown that society’s attitudes to sexuality were changing radically, and that the church risked appearing uncomfortably out-of-step.
“Anyone who listened to much of the Same Sex Marriage bill second reading debate in the House of Lords could not fail to be struck by the overwhelming change of cultural hinterland,” he said. “Predictable attitudes were no longer there. The opposition to the Bill was utterly overwhelmed … [and] there was noticeable hostility to the view of the churches.”
Welby added: “We may or may not like it but we must accept that there is a revolution in the area of sexuality.”
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