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Female Priest,mpho Tutu Marries Female Atheist by izzou(m): 12:45am On Jun 10, 2016 |
9 June 2016 Africa
The daughter of Archbishop Desmond Tutu,
Mpho, says part of her was "stripped away" when
she had to relinquish the Anglican priesthood over
her same-sex marriage, writes Justine Lang.
Reverend Canon Mpho Tutu van Furth followed her
father into a life in the Anglican church, but when
she decided to marry the woman she loved, she
had to leave.
She married her long-term Dutch girlfriend,
Marceline van Furth, in a small private ceremony in
the Netherlands at the end of last year, but they
went public last month when they had a wedding
celebration in Cape Town.
"My marriage sounds like a coming out party,"
explains Ms Tutu van Furth.
"Falling in love with Marceline was as much as a
surprise to me as to everyone else," she tells me.
Marceline van Furth is a specialist in paediatric
infectious disease and is based in Holland. She is
also an atheist.
Prior to the announcement of their marriage, Ms
Tutu van Furth's sexuality was never made public,
and she had previously been married to a man with
whom she had two children.
Marriage 'not recognised'
While same-sex marriage was legalised in South
Africa in 2006, South African Anglican law on
marriage states: "Holy matrimony is the lifelong
and exclusive union between one man and one
woman."
Same-sex marriages are not recognised and when it
comes to gay clerics, the church is very clear - they
must remain celibate.
Ms Tutu van Furth feared that her marriage would
mean losing her licence to practice as a priest.
And indeed shortly after her wedding, her diocese
decided to withdraw it. And that is when she said
she would hand it back as she thought this was a
more dignified option with the same effect.
"It was incredibly sad for me.
"A few years ago I celebrated the Eucharist with my
father... and now to be in a position that I cannot
serve at the alter with him... I was surprised by
how much it hurt," she reveals.
And while her father, Archbishop Emeritus Desmond
Tutu, now 84, has been very supportive of her
marriage, she says she is also very aware that he
has to be careful to allow the conversation to
unfold as opposed to picking a fight.
Despite this, his views on homophobia have always
been very clear.
In July 2013, while speaking at a UN-backed
campaign to promote gay rights, he said: "I would
refuse to go to a homophobic heaven.
"No, I would say sorry. I mean I would much rather
go to the other place," he said, equating the
campaign against homophobia to that waged in
South Africa against racism.
Ms Tutu van Furth would like her marriage to help
progress what she calls the "very important
conversation'" that needs to be had in the church
regarding same-sex marriage.
"What is so absolute that we can't pass beyond this
point?" she asks.
"Not only do we have gay, lesbian, transgender,
bisexual people of every description sitting in our
pews, to be perfectly honest we have all of those
people standing in our pulpits too.
"And yet very often they sit in fear in the pews and
they stand in fear in the pulpits because they are
not free to fully own who they are and who they
love."
She is also keen that the church look at what
woman like her at the altar can do to draw the
young towards the church.
As a lipstick-wearing black woman in robes, she
knows that she is not your typical Anglican priest.
"I want that young girl to look at me and realize that
is what priests can look like," she explains.
The Tutu van Furths' careers and children force
them to live 9,600km (5,965miles) apart.
Mpho Tutu van Furth is in Cape Town running her
parents' foundation and her partner is in Amsterdam
practising medicine.
Living apart, she says, is not ideal.
"We are newly-weds like every other set of newly-
weds and it sucks. Living apart is not a good and
joyful thing.
"It's a huge challenge to us but we talk umpteen
times a day. God bless the internet, we love it," she
says.
They have four children between them, ranging from
10 years old to 19 years old from their first
marriages.
Ms Tutu van Furth realised that when she fell in
love, she would have to make a very difficult choice
between being a priest or being with the person she
loved.
It was, she says, one of the hardest choices of her
life.
"I shouldn't have to choose but in the end you
always choose love. Everything else will fall into
place somehow. When in doubt do the most loving
thing."
The Anglican Church in South Africa has indicated
that it is looking at adopting pastoral guidelines for
members who enter same-sex unions.
But it is not clear whether there will be any change
when it comes to same-sex marriages of church
clerics.
|
Re: Female Priest,mpho Tutu Marries Female Atheist by ever811(m): 1:11am On Jun 10, 2016 |
how God allow this type of animals to continue livinh is still a mystery.. |
Re: Female Priest,mpho Tutu Marries Female Atheist by cooooooks(m): 7:40pm On Jun 14, 2016 |
Perhaps because he created all life an gave every human free will. ever811: |
Re: Female Priest,mpho Tutu Marries Female Atheist by johnydon22(m): 9:37pm On Jun 14, 2016 |
ever811: Why not ask God and then come back and tell us his/her/it's answer |
Re: Female Priest,mpho Tutu Marries Female Atheist by Slikbae: 6:47am On Jun 15, 2016 |
Homosexuality is evil, no doubt. But so is stealing, lying, fornication etc. There's only one hell, and that's where all liars, fornicators, adulterers, homosexuals will go to as clearly stated in the bible. Let us not judge nor be hypocrites. Sin is sin. The only thing that differs is that the demon behind a particular sin may be stronger than others. If you're a fornicator, you are in no place to castigate a homosexual. And even you're not a fornicator, you're still in no place to point fingers at an adulterer or homosexual because God is the judge. If we begin to judge now, who will judge us on the last day?? As children of God, we should only pray for the salvation of lost souls. |
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