(AKI) - In an unexpected move, conservatives and liberal members of the Church of England have joined forces to reject bishops' controversial policy allowing gay clergy to enter civil partnerships if they vowed to abstain from sex. Instead the General Synod on Wednesday backed a motion acknowledging deep splits over the issues and encouraged bishops to review their policy. The General Synod is taking place this week through Thursday.In Wednesday's motion, the General Synod said it: "Acknowledges the diversity of views within the Church of England on whether Parliament might better have addressed the injustices affecting persons of the same sex wishing to share a common life had it done so in a way that avoided creating a legal framework with many similarities to marriage."
The motion followed an often passionate debate, in which dissatisfaction with the bishops' guidelines was voiced by a range of speakers. Even several bishops expressed their unease with the pastoral guidance issued in 2005. A number of gay clergy and laity reportedly spoke openly about the value of their own sexually active relationships.
But the General Synod also rejected criticism of the bishops by conservative evangelicals that their policy undermined heterosexual marriage by effectively condoning gay "marriage".
The bishops on Wednesday presented a united defence of their 2005 guidance - even though they are themselves profoundly divided, the Daily Telegraph newspaper reported. The bishops described their guidance as a "balanced and sensitive attempt" to apply Church teaching to civil partnerships.
After years of campaigning by gay rights activists, in December 2005 a new law entered into force in Britain allowing civil partnerships giving gay couples the same property, inheritance, pension, immigration and tax entitlements as married heterosexuals.
Anglican traditionalists in the Church of England, the Roman Catholic church and British Muslims opposed the move.