The reverend daughter of former Cape Town Archbishop Desmond Tutu has announced she will give up her Anglican church licence after marrying a woman.
Rev Canon Mpho Tutu-Van Firth said that she had chosen to make a “dignified” exit rather than be stripped of her right to practice, since the church does not recognise gay marriage.
“Because the South African Anglican Church does not recognise our marriage, I can no longer exercise my priestly ministry in South Africa,” she said. “The bishop of the (Cape Town) diocese was instructed to revoke my licence. I decided that I would give it to him rather than have him take it.”
While same-sex marriage was legalised in South Africa in 2006, the South African Anglican law on marriage states: “Holy matrimony is the lifelong and exclusive union between one man and one woman.”
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