The Archbishop of Canterbury The Archbishop of Canterbury has been officially welcomed to New Zealand today, and immediately questioned on 'same-sex marriage' by a straight-shooting school student. Dr Rowan Williams is in Auckland with leaders of the Anglican Church for the Anglican Consultative Council. He was welcomed to the Telstra Events Centre in Manukau this morning by a haka party of students, after which around 800 Anglican youngsters sang for him. Selected students were then allowed to ask him questions, and one teenage boy piped up with: "here in New Zealand we currently have a bill before Parliament about same-sex marriage. What does the Anglican Church have to say about this issue?" Dr Williams responded with "aw thanks a bundle," which prompted laughter. He then stated: "the short answer is that the Anglican Church has quite a lot to say about this issue, but it's not always the same thing that people are saying. "I would say that for the vast majority of Anglicans in the world the idea of same-sex marriage is not one they can come to terms with." The Anglican Church in New Zealand and Polynesia has set up a "Gender Commission" of prominent New Zealanders to "lead it out of the impasse over questions about the ordination and blessing of folk who are in same gender relationships". The Commission is led by former Governor-General Sir Anand Satyanand and is due to report back to the General Synod in 2014.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Saturday, 27th October 2012 - 7:35pm