Ottawa, Canada, Dec 15, 2003 / 22:00 pm
An interfaith coalition, which includes the Catholic Civil Rights League, has requested intervenor status in the upcoming deliberations of the Supreme Court regarding same-sex marriage draft legislation. The coalition says that changing the definition of marriage will have “a profound impact on clergy and religious institutions,” reported Canadian Catholic News.
The Interfaith Coalition for Marriage and Family said clergy in many denominations and religions are unable and unwilling to solemnize same-sex unions. As well, “millions of Canadians, represented by the Interfaith Coalition, by their religious principles, are unable to recognize same-sex unions as marriages,” it added.
The legislation will have “profound legal and social ramifications,” it said. “Just as the liberalization of divorce law had a profound and unanticipated effect on these communities, the proposed change to marriage can be expected to have as yet uncertain and unanticipated effects upon the wider culture and upon these religious communities,” said the coalition.
The Interfaith Coalition for Marriage and Family also includes the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada and the Islamic Society of North America.