Most
Americans know the house of God, also called the Cathedral Church of
St. Peter and St. Paul, as a place where sacred rites are carried out on
behalf of the nation. It has been host to the funerals of numerous
presidents and of inaugural prayer services for four presidents,
including Barack Obama.
But
it is also an active house of worship in the Episcopalian Church, said
the Cathedral's dean, Gary Hall. The denomination has developed a
blessing rite that mirrors current wedding ceremonies for heterosexual
couples and allows each bishop to decide to allow same-sex marriages in
their churches or not.
Bishop
Mariann Budde decided to allow the rite, since same-sex marriage is
legal in the District of Columbia and now in neighboring Maryland as
well, Hall said.
It was Budde's decision that led Hall to create the same-sex rite.
He sees it as "another historic step toward greater equality."
The
states of Washington, Maine and Maryland all legalized same-sex
marriages in referendums during the 2012 general election. It was
already legal in the nation's capital.
In
March, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in two appeals cases
related to same-sex marriage -- California's Proposition 8, which bans
same-sex marriage and the federal Defense of Marriage Act, which denies
federal benefits to same-sex couples.
The
American Episcopal Church is intimately connected with the Church of
England, which last week approved the advancement of male priests in
same-sex committed relationships to the position of bishop. But those
relationships must be celibate.
City
halls in Baltimore; Portland, Maine; and Seattle erupted in celebration
as the first same-sex couples tied the knot in December and January.
Seattle's ceremony included 133 couples, who walked outside and down
rain-slickened steps afterward, where they were greeted by cheers,
confetti and a brass band celebrating the first day same-sex couples
could marry in Washington.
To
wed at the National Cathedral, one member of the couple must be
baptized into the Church, and both must commit to a Christian marriage
of "lifelong faithfulness, love, forbearance and mutual comfort."
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