Adrienne Clarkson - Religion

Religion

A member of the Church of St. Mary Magdalene, Clarkson is a devout Anglican, as is her entire family going back five generations, with her uncle being a priest in the Anglican Church in Hong Kong. Clarkson chose to attend Trinity College at the University of Toronto because of its Anglican associations, and, while there, she casually dated divinity student Michael Peers, who would later become an archbishop and primate of the Anglican Church of Canada. This friendship was maintained over the years, and Peers presided over Clarkson's marriage to Saul, officiated at her installation as governor general, and presided over the funerals of both her parents. Clarkson is also credited for returning prayer to the viceregal installation ceremony, which had been removed when Roméo LeBlanc was installed in 1995.

Clarkson was admired by the faithful for being open about her religious beliefs during her time in Rideau Hall. In a December 2005 interview with the Anglican Journal, she was quoted as saying about the Anglican elements of her heraldic arms that "I am an Anglican and that is part of my life; that I really feel at home in the Anglican Communion." In this same interview, she criticized conservatives for creating what she called the "deep divide" in the Anglican church regarding homosexuality. Clarkson was also noted for visiting Anglican churches around Canada on her many tours, saying that she enjoyed seeing how the church fit in communities in all parts of Canada. Her public faith, however, was also the cause of controversy: She received particular criticism when she was seen taking communion in a Catholic church since that denomination does not permit open communion.