Canadian Anglicans defer gay marriage vote

ST. CATHARINES, Ontario ­— The Anglican Church of Canada on June 2 dodged the explosive issue of same-sex “marriage” by voting to defer it until the churches’ next national meeting in 2007.

Delegates to the church’s synod, or governing body, meeting here voted 142–118 to put off a vote on gay “marriage” until its next synod in three years. Bishops favored deferral by a vote of 22 to 12.

The potentially divisive issue was referred to a theological commission to determine whether same-sex “marriage” conforms to church doctrine. The commission is slated to report in 2006, and if it finds that gay marriage is a matter of doctrine, the ruling cannot be changed at the local level.