Agnes M. Sigurðardóttir, Iceland’s new bishop and its first women to hold the office, has no intention of changing church policy when it comes to the question of gay marriage.
As reported, Agnes became Iceland’s first female bishop yesterday, with strong support from church and other officials who cast their ballots earlier this month. She will take office at the end of June.
DV spoke with her, wherein she expressed gratitude for all the support she has been given, while saying that her 30 years of experience working within the church should prepare her for the task at hand.
When asked about the question of gay marriage, she responded, “Freedom of consciousness is respected by law, and I want to make it clear that no one will be forced to do something that their conscious does not allow. There are very few priests who do not feel comfortable marrying people of the same sex, and they have every right to have that opinion. I don’t think it’s a problem. The matter has already been settled, as far as I’m concerned.”
Two years ago, priests voted to not change their policy against gay marriage, despite a law being passed in parliament creating one marriage law for everyone. The law had overwhelming support of the people, and many priests within the church also favoured its passage, but official church policy maintains that priests can refuse to marry a gay couple.
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