On same-sex marriage and other gay rights issues, Jefferts Schori said she has been "stunned at how quickly public opinion has changed in the U.S." though she cautioned that she doesn't expect controversy over gay clergy in the Episcopal Church to fade. As more states legalize same-sex marriage, she said, conflicts in the church could become more frequent.

"We muddle through [controversial issues] in a very public way," she said of the church that has just under two million members in the United States.

"I would guess that at [General] Convention, we would adopt a trial rite for blessing same-sex unions," she said, referring to the annual meeting of the church's governing body, which meets every three years. It will next meet in July in Indianapolis. Jefferts Schori said that no priest is required to bless any marriage, but that formal same-sex blessings could become optional.

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Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Episcopal Church (TEC) • General Convention • Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori • Sexuality Debate (in Anglican Communion) • Same-sex blessings • * Christian Life / Church Life • Liturgy, Music, Worship • * Culture-Watch • Sexuality • --Civil Unions & Partnerships • * Theology • Anthropology • Ethics / Moral Theology • Pastoral Theology

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