Subject: Marriage Canon - Impediments of Relationship

Moved By: Ronald Stevenson (Chancellor)

Seconded By: Bishop Barry Hollowell from the Diocese of Calgary

Note: The mover and the seconder must be members of the General Synod and be present in the House when the resolution is before the synod for debate.

BE IT RESOLVED:

hat second reading be given to the resolution

That Canon XXI be amended:

(1) by striking out section 3 of Part I and substituting therefor the following:

3. Impediments of Relationship

a) Notwithstanding the Table of Kindred and Affinity contained in the Book of Common Prayer (1962), when making the inquiries directed in section 2 the minister shall, with respect to impediments of relationship, be guided by the Marriage (Prohibited Degrees) Act, as it was in force on June 1, 2004, which prohibits marriages between persons who are related

i) lineally by consanguinity or adoption,

ii) as brother and sister by consanguinity, whether by the whole blood or the half-blood, or

iii) as brother and sister by adoption.

b) In addition to marriages prohibited by law, no person may marry another person if they both live, or have previously lived, in the same household and one of them is or has been treated by the other as a child or parent.

(2) by striking out clause 17 a) ii) of Part III and substituting therefor the following:

ii) they are related to each other

i) lineally by consanguinity or adoption,

ii) as brother and sister by consanguinity, whether by the whole blood or the half-blood, or

iii) as brother and sister by adoption;

(3) by renumbering clause 17 a) iii) of Part III to be clause 17 a) iv) and by inserting a new clause 17 a) iii) as follows:

iii) they both live, or have previously lived, in the same household and one of them is or has been treated by the other as a child or parent; or

EXPLANATORY NOTE/BACKGROUND INFORMATION

The background for this resolution is found in the report of the Marriage Canon Task Force, particularly at pages 20 to 24. Clause 3 b) is based on an amendment made to the resolution when it was given first reading by the General Synod in 2001. The proposed clause 17 a) iii) makes Part III consistent with that amendment.