Meet the Gay Priest Getting Married

[DonViejo]

Nico Hines

Andrew Cain will become the first clergyman in the Church of England’s five-century history to marry his same-sex partner, in defiance of a ban by church leaders.

A prolific thief broke into the vestry of a North London church; grabbed the weekly collection, an iPhone and some silver, and began his getaway. He pushed past a female curate and raced towards the exit, but Father Andrew Cain got to the doorway first. Tall and broad-chested, he bellowed: “Get on your knees!”

The ecclesiastical citizen’s arrest was widely celebrated in Britain at the time. Two years later, Cain is about to make headlines again, but this time his career is hanging in the balance. Defying the church’s orders, he will become the first Church of England clergyman to enter into a same-sex marriage.

The church, which is at the heart of the 80 million-strong worldwide Anglican Communion, has always defined marriage as a contract between a man and a woman, and it refused to recognize Britain’s legalization of gay marriage, which comes into force at the end of the month. Church officials are furious that Cain is ignoring a ruling by the House of Bishops, which bans clergymen from performing same-sex weddings in their churches and orders gay vicars not to marry.

Disregarding the diktat, Cain, 50, and his fiancé, Stephen Foreshew, 40, officially registered their intention to marry at Camden Town Hall in London last week. They want to keep the location of their June wedding secret in case it attracts unwanted attention, but concede it won’t be taking place in a church despite Cain’s 28 years in the clergy. “I’ve always loved the job, but I’m finding it really quite hard to love the Church at the moment,” he said, stroking one of his two handsome Bengal cats. “I feel very angry and quite bitter about the way the church is behaving.”

The priest, who oversees two parishes in North-West London, disclosed to The Daily Beast that he had been hauled in front of his bishop last week. Cain said he was summoned to the home of The Rt Revd Peter Wheatley, Bishop of Edmonton, along with a church human resources officer, and reprimanded for his open defiance of the ecclesiastical guidelines.

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http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/03/24/meet-the-gay-priest-getting-married.html