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Anglicans approve same-sex marriage after vote recount

By Shawn Price
Anglican church members in Canada voted to approve same-sex marriage one day after discovering errors in the voting process had rejected the resolution. The vote is not yet church law and some members vowed to fight on to reverse the decision. Photo by Pete Marovich/UPI
Anglican church members in Canada voted to approve same-sex marriage one day after discovering errors in the voting process had rejected the resolution. The vote is not yet church law and some members vowed to fight on to reverse the decision. Photo by Pete Marovich/UPI | License Photo

TORONTO, July 13 (UPI) -- Anglicans in Canada narrowly rejected, then approved allowing support of same-sex marriage, after an error was found in the voting process.

On Monday, the church's members attending the General Synod voted to deny gay and lesbian couples the ability to have same-sex marriages performed in Anglican churches. The Resolution lost by one vote.

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On Tuesday, the voting process began to be questioned when members complained their votes had not been recorded, leading to a recount and consequently an approval of same-sex marriage just hours later.

"That is an issue of concern," said Archbishop Fred Hiltz, primate of the Canadian church. "We cannot leave this synod with this kind of confusion."

Church authorities found the error after hard copies of the electronic voting records were requested by delegates.

"That is our reality," Hiltz told stunned delegates. "That the motion is in fact carried."

The resolution will not become law until it is affirmed by the next synod in 2019 and Tuesday's result was controversial.

Bishop John Chapman of Ottawa was one of many bishops who said he would move ahead with the unions in his jurisdiction, but also said no official would be forced to do so.

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"It is time my friends," Chapman said. "It is past time."

British Columbia Rev. Melissa Skelton comforted those who opposed the resolution, "Take heart," she said. "This is not over."

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