The Church of England is to allow gay clergy to enter into civil partnerships but only if they promise to abstain from sex, according to guidance issued yesterday.
In a "pastoral statement", the House of Bishops said that clergy would be able to take advantage of the Act, but only if they reassure their bishops that they will uphold Church teaching. Clergy were also told that they should not offer formal services of blessing for couples who had been through a civil partnership ceremony, but they could pray with the couple.
Many conservatives in the worldwide Anglican Church will portray the development as undermining the Church's hard-line stance on the issue. But the bishops sought to dampen controversy over the partnerships yesterday by insisting that it will not change Church policy. They argued that the law would not introduce "gay marriage" because, although it gives partners rights in areas such as pensions, it does not presuppose sexual relations.
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