adding that it would be difficult to have all the different ecclesial communities to agree on a same date. Civil partnerships Conry has stated that the Catholic Church supports civil partnerships, because they can confer to couples, including homosexual couples, legal protection in matters such as inheritance. However, he has questioned the need to apply the term "marriage" to homosexual partnerships, saying that marriage as "the permanent union of a man and a woman" should be protected. References External links 1951 births Living people 20th-century English Roman Catholic priests 21st-century English Roman Catholic priests People from Coventry Roman Catholic bishops of Arundel and Brighton Pontifical Gregorian University alumni