amends

In a statement issued by the House of Bishops, led by the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Reverend Justin Welby, the bishops declared that Christians in gay or straight civil partnerships should be sexually abstinent.

According to him, sex is for straight married couples only, adding that a lifelong union between a man and a woman, contracted with the making of vows remains the proper context for sexual activity.

The leaders of the Church, however, warned that churchgoers with civil partnerships should be treated ‘sensitively and pastorally’.

The statement