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Civil partnerships should be no more than 'sexually abstinent friendships', the Church of England Bishops rule

Civil partnerships should be no more than “sexually abstinent friendships”, the Church of England has stated.   - © Rainer Klotz / Alamy Stock Photo
Civil partnerships should be no more than “sexually abstinent friendships”, the Church of England has stated. - © Rainer Klotz / Alamy Stock Photo

Civil partnerships should be no more than “sexually abstinent friendships”, the Church of England has stated.

Following a landmark legal battle, which resulted in the recent introduction of mixed-sex civil partnerships, Bishops have now issued pastoral guidance to clergy on how to deal with the issue.

Religious leaders have concluded that sex belongs only within heterosexual marriage, and that Christians who are in either gay or straight civil partnerships should remain sexually abstinent.

The statement from the House of Bishops said that sex outside of marriage falls “short of God’s purposes for human beings” and concludes that those in civil partnerships – whether same-sex or opposite-sex – can be ordained, as long as they commit to celibacy.

For decades, the church has been divided over how to deal with LGBT issues and has recently embarked on a large study of human sexuality, Living in Love and Faith, which is due to be published later this year.

However the latest comments have sparked furious criticism from LGBT campaigners both within and outside the church.

In the new document, entitled 'Civil Partnerships – for same sex and opposite sex and opposite sex couples. A pastoral statement from the House of Bishops of the Church of England’, the Bishops say: "The Church’s teaching on sexual ethics remains unchanged.

“For Christians, marriage – that is the lifelong union between a man and a woman, contracted with the making of vows – remains the proper context for sexual activity.

However they also add: "In its approach to civil partnerships the Church seeks to uphold that standard, to affirm the value of committed, sexually abstinent friendships and to minister sensitively and pastorally to those Christians who conscientiously decide to order their lives differently…

"Sexual relationships outside heterosexual marriage are regarded as falling short of God's purposes for human beings. The introduction of same sex marriage... has not changed the church's teaching on marriage or same sex relationships."

Jayne Ozanne, a campaigner for LGBT rights and a member of the C of E’s ruling body, the General synod, said: I am sadly unsurprised by the content of this statement but I am deeply saddened by its tone.

It will appear far from 'pastoral' to those it affects and shows little evidence to those wishing the Church will help them celebrate their loving committed relationships of the 'radical new Christian inclusion' that we have been promised.

I look forward to the day when the Church of England sets its house in order, extends a proper welcome to all, and makes confused "pastoral statements" like this redundant.

Steve Wardlaw, an LGBT+ activist, lawyer and founder of Emerald Life - the world's first insurance provider for LGBT+ people, added: “The hypocrisy in this pronouncement is truly staggering.

“In an era where the church struggles to be even remotely relevant, they are happy to advise that what I am ‘allowed’ is a ‘committed, sexually abstinent friendship’?

“Given the trend towards greater equality and understanding, the sooner the church is disestablished so that it can wither on its own, the better.”

In June 2018, Charles Keidan and Rebecca Steinfeld won a Supreme Court bid for civil partnerships to be available for everybody, after the court decided that treatment of the couple amounted to discrimination, breaching their right to a family and private life. They were one of the first mixed-sex couples in Britain to celebrate their civil partnership last month.

The ruling opened the door for the UK’s 3.3 million cohabiting heterosexual couples to form civil partnerships, which offer near-identical rights to traditional marriage, including inheritance, tax, and property entitlements.

The government estimates that as many as 84,000 mixed-sex couples will become civil partners in 2020. Many unmarried people wrongly believe their rights are already protected by so-called “common law marriages”, but these do not exist, legal experts say.

The Revd Dr Malcolm Brown, the Church of England’s Director of Mission and Public Affairs, said: “The Church of England recognises that in extending civil partnerships to opposite-sex couples, the Government was bound by the Supreme Court judgment, which found that retaining partnerships only for same-sex couples went against the principle of equality.

“In our submission to the Government consultation, we accepted that extending civil partnerships to opposite-sex couples was a better way of establishing the principle of equality than simply abolishing them altogether.

“But civil partnership is not the same as marriage which is founded on the taking of solemn public vows and is recognised in the Church’s teaching as the only proper context for sexual relationships.

“So, as with same-sex civil partnerships, there is no formal service or blessing but clergy will, as always, be encouraged to respond pastorally to couples wishing to formalise their relationship in this way.”