LONDON — A religious think tank has suggested that legal marriage in Britain be scrapped and replaced with a range of civil partnerships, to make clear the distinction between a religious marriage and one defined under law.
The progressive Christian group Ekklesia said the arrangement it proposes would still allow couples to marry if they wished but the legal aspect would be removed from the ceremony. Instead they would register their partnership under law in a separate process.
Under existing law in Britain, a couple marrying in the Church of England is simultaneously legally and religiously wed because of its status as the state church.
Couples marrying in another denomination or faith are required to have the union legally registered under a separate act of state. In Britain, a civil ceremony by a registrar allows no religious content.
Ekklesia said it believes its proposal would remove the “anomalous status” of the Church of England. At the same time, it added, it would clarify the situation created by civil partnerships, which grant gay and lesbian couples rights similar to those in traditional marriages but do not grant comparable status.
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