Gay Priest in Canada Loses Legal Battle but May Appeal to Civil Courts
Episcopal News Service. April 10, 1992 [92086]
A church tribunal in the Anglican Church of Canada has ruled that the Rev. James Ferry must give up his license as a priest because he disobeyed his bishop's order to end a gay relationship.
In arguments before the tribunal -- known as a bishop's court -- Bishop Terence Finlay of Toronto contended that Ferry's relationship was contrary to 1979 guidelines adopted by the church's bishops requiring homosexual candidates to promise celibacy in order to be ordained.
The five-member bishop's court agreed with Finlay on two of the four charges against Ferry, ruling that Ferry's "admitted conduct" constituted "contumacy and disrespectful conduct" toward the bishop in his administration of diocesan affairs. However, the court said that charges that Ferry had violated his "oath of canonical obedience" and that his conduct was dishonorable and disorderly had not been proven.
Following the ruling, Finlay removed Ferry from his parish job and from exercising his duties as a priest. The action prevents Ferry from preaching, officiating at marriages, and celebrating the sacraments.
According to the Toronto Star, Finlay said that he would consider restoring Ferry's license if Ferry promised to conform to his ordination vows and the discipline of the church. If Ferry is unwilling to adhere to the bishop's demands, Finlay has said that a "career planning package" will be offered.
"The choice is now Mr. Ferry's, and I sincerely hope he will seek to discuss the matter with me soon," Finlay said.
In response to the ruling Ferry said that he had "committed only one crime. I have loved another human being deeply and intimately. Anyone who has ever been told by family, friends, or others to stop loving someone because that person is the wrong color or class or race or gender will know how I feel...."
"The church will never be able to go back to keeping a lid on discussing whether or not people like myself belong," Ferry told reporters. "My faith in God and Jesus has not been shaken, but my faith in the institution certainly has," he said.
Ferry's lawyer in the case, Valerie Edwards, criticized the bishop for passing up an opportunity to put an end to discrimination against homosexual clergy in the diocese. She said that her client will now consider filing a complaint to the Ontario Human Rights Commission.
"It would be up to Bishop Finlay to prove that his continued discrimination against gay clergy -- and in particular the requirement that gay clergy be celibate -- constitutes a bona-fide occupational requirement," Edwards said. "It would be both unfortunate and ironic if the true meaning of Christian and Anglican values were to be determined not by a church court, but rather by a civil tribunal," she said.
In a pastoral letter to all congregations in his diocese, Finlay acknowledged that the trial had caused anguish for the entire church. However, he wrote that the church is the "family of God and in any healthy family there is need for both discipline and loving care." Finlay said that although the recent case had upheld the church's teaching, it had also raised important questions that should cause the church to review and reassess its guidelines.
Archbishop Michael Peers of Canada released a statement affirming Finlay's letter. Peers said that Finlay had shown "sensitivity and care" and had "exercised discipline with wisdom, and at the same time pointed the way forward for healing and reconciliation."
Peers also praised Ferry's "courage during a difficult public ordeal. I know his willingness to appear before a public court was not simply for his own vindication, but to raise up the predicament of all gays and lesbians within the church." Peers said that he hoped Ferry would be seen as "a person who has acted out of a deep commitment to the faith we share as Christians."
"Christians resolve fundamental issues through dialogue and listening, and as well sometimes through conflict," Peers added. "Understanding human sexuality will require patient listening and study by all members of the church."
In the United States, Integrity, an organization of gay and lesbians in the Episcopal Church, said that it was disappointed "that the court made its decision on a purely 'legal basis,' but it is even sadder that Bishop Finlay, who could have modified the decision, chose to ignore the pastoral implications of his action."
Integrity asserted that "literally thousands of lesbian and gay Anglicans in Canada and elsewhere... [will] read this as a clear message that, while we are welcome to contribute financially to the church, our contributions to other aspects of the church's corporate life are not welcome."