The newly appointed Archbishop of Wales, the Most Rev Cherry Vann, has said that gay marriage in church is “inevitable,” while emphasising the need for respectful dialogue among Anglican clergy and laity who remain divided on the issue.
In an interview published by The Guardian UK on Sunday, Vann, 66, opened up about the personal and institutional challenges she faced over decades of ministry while keeping her sexuality hidden.
“Without the strong belief that God had called me to the priesthood, I would not have survived,” she said.
Vann, who was ordained in 1994 and served in the Manchester diocese before becoming Bishop of Monmouth in 2020, is the first woman and openly gay bishop to serve as a primate in the Anglican Communion. Upon her appointment, she publicly acknowledged her civil partnership with Wendy Diamond, her partner of over 30 years.
“For years we kept our relationship secret because I worried about waking up and finding myself outed on the front page of a newspaper. Now, Wendy joins me everywhere, and when I take services, it’s just normal,” she said.
Reflecting on her early years in the Church of England, Vann noted that while same-sex partnerships were technically allowed, clergy were expected to remain celibate. “Other people in England were braver than I was and made their sexuality clear. A lot of them suffered the consequences of that,” she said.
She also recalled the challenges of being a woman in ministry. “You can hide your sexuality, up to a point, but you can’t hide being a woman. There was a lot of nastiness; the men were angry, they felt they had been betrayed.”
Vann described efforts to foster understanding across opposing views, including meetings with male clergy who opposed the ordination of women. “It was awful, it was really difficult for all of us, but we stuck at it.”
On the issue of same-sex marriage in church, she said she remains cautious but acknowledged its likely emergence. “Gay marriage in church is inevitable, I think: the question is when. There are people who are very opposed, and as leader, I have to honour their position, which is theologically grounded. It isn’t my job to push something through that would alienate a good proportion of clergy.”
Despite tensions over sexuality and gender within the global Anglican Communion, Vann expressed hope for mutual respect. “We can vehemently disagree about something, but we can still love one another in Christ and recognise one another as children of God.”
* Media Report