2 day priests marry in England, touching off stir

The Anglican community has been in the throes of a major heated discussion the world over due to a dispute over the status of homosexuality, especially among priests and whether it was permitted. This discussion has often pitted priests from the developing world (who are faster growing) against priests from England the United States, and has been very heated at times. At such a time, the happening of a marriage between 2 gay priests at one of England's oldest church is akin to adding a lot of heated oil to the fire:

LONDON: The Church of England said Saturday that two gay priests may have broken its rules, after a newspaper report that they exchanged vows and rings in Britain's first ever church "wedding" ceremony. The Sunday Telegraph said clerics Peter Cowell and David Lord "married" at one of England's oldest churches -- Saint Bartholomew the Great in London -- last month, using one of the church's most traditional wedding rites.
A Church of England spokesman told reporters they had "no reason" to believe that the ceremony did not take place but added: "What we seem to have here is a fairly serious breach of the rules by an individual or groups of individuals." News of the ceremony could not come at a worse time for the worldwide Anglican communion, which risks a damaging split because of member churches' diverging attitudes towards homosexuality, particularly amongst clergy. Conservative churches, mainly in Africa, have been odds with their more liberal, Western counterparts since the ordination of an openly gay US priest, Gene Robinson, as a bishop in 2003.

Seems a bit strange that the ceremony, to be carried out at one of England's oldest church was not known in advance.