Thomas Kingston and Lady Gabriella Windsor leave St George's Chapel after their wedding on May 18, 2019 in Windsor, England. (Photo by Pool/Max Mumby/Getty Images)

(CNSNews.com) -- Officials in the Church of England have apologized for releasing a statement that explained why sexual activity is only proper within marriage between one man and one woman, stressing that its teaching had "jeopardized trust" and sowed "division and hurt," particularly among homosexuals.

"We as Archbishops, alongside the bishops of the Church of England, apologise and take responsibility for releasing a statement last week which we acknowledge has jeopardised trust. We are very sorry and recognise the division and hurt this has caused," said Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, and John Sentamu, the Archbishop of York, in a Jan. 30 statement.

(Photo: Sandy Huffaker/Corbis via Getty Images)





"At our meeting of the College of Bishops of the Church of England this week we continued our commitment to the Living in Love and Faith project which is about questions of human identity, sexuality and marriage," said the archbishops. "This process is intended to help us all to build bridges that will enable the difficult conversations that are necessary as, together, we discern the way forward for the Church of England."

On Jan. 22, the Church of England had issued a pastoral statement, entitled, "Civil Partnerships -- for same sex and opposite sex couples." The statement explained the church's position on civil partnerships, which were recently expanded to include heterosexual couples, and why sexual activity among people in civil partnerships -- heterosexual or homosexual -- is morally wrong.





In the statement, the church teaches, "It has always been the position of the Church of England that marriage is a creation ordinance, a gift of God in creation and a means of his grace. Marriage, defined as a faithful, committed, permanent and legally sanctioned relationship between a man and a woman making a public commitment to each other, is central to the stability and health of human society."

"In the light of this understanding the Church of England teaches that 'sexual intercourse, as an expression of faithful intimacy, properly belongs within marriage exclusively' (Marriage: a teaching document of the House of Bishops, 1999)," reads the pastoral statement.

"Sexual relationships outside heterosexual marriage are regarded as falling short of God’s purposes for human beings," the statement reads.

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The letter goes on to explain that the law on civil partnerships does not state that the parties involved intend to "engage in a sexual relationship."

Thus, states the Church of England, "With opposite sex civil partnerships, and with those for same sex couples, 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."

"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," reads the pastoral statement.

In other words, civil partnerships are not marriages, and whether the partners are gay or straight, they should not engage in sexual activity, according to the church. They must maintain "sexually abstinent friendships" within the civil partnership.

Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury. (Getty Images)

Liberal members of the church and LGBT activists were livid over the document.

“The Church of England has this week become a laughingstock to a nation that believes it is obsessed with sex," said several Church of England officials in an open letter.

“More importantly this statement has significantly damaged the mission of the Church and it has broken the trust of those it seeks to serve," reads the letter. "[I]t seems our trust has been misplaced and we feel badly let down."

Some of the signatories to the letter, according to The Telegraph, included "Ven. Canon Peter Leonard, archdeacon of the Isle of Wight; Christina Baron, a member of the General Synod and chair of the Human Sexuality Group on General Synod; Rev. Andrew Foreshew-Cain, chaplain to Lady Margaret Hall, University of Oxford and the founder of the Campaign for Equal Marriage in the Church of England; and Jayne Ozanne, a prominent gay evangelical and member of General Synod."

The letter-signers further said, “The pastoral statement makes clear there has been no desire to listen or learn from those of us who spoke to explain how offensive we found the tone of the House of Bishops’ previous document. Indeed, the statement is anything but 'pastoral'– it is cold, defensive, and uncaring of its impact on the millions of people it affects.”





Gay evangelical Jayne Ozanne said on Twitter, "I’m sadly unsurprised by the content of this statement but I’m deeply saddened by its tone. It will appear far from ‘pastoral’ to those it discusses and shows little evidence of the 'radical new Christian inclusion' that we have been promised."

In a Feb. 3 speech to the William Temple Association, Ozanne said, “We have leaders who are gay but won’t admit it -- who then have sex with someone of the same sex -- and then chastise those who work for them, who are in openly gay relationships, for doing the same."

“It is a despicable abuse of power by those who believe that their only sin is getting caught," saod Ozanne.

"I’m angered by the duplicity and hypocrisy of certain men – and, yes, they are normally men – who talk about the sanctity of marriage while they themselves live such very different lives," she said. "Those who hide behind a smiling public face, but whose personal lives tell quite a different story.”

Rev. Canon Rosie Harper, chaplain to the Bishop of Buckingham, said, "We have now declared in a very public way that the relationships of many of the people we love and care about are sub-optimal."

"Perhaps we can learn from our Catholic sisters and brothers?" she added. "Yes, there are those who are aligned to the full scope of Catholic teaching, but the vast majority don’t sweat that stuff at all."

She then described a conversation she once had with a Catholic family in Germany. she asked them, "But how can you go along with the whole contraception thing?’" and the couple replied, "Ah Rosie, we know they have to say it, but we don’t take any notice."

The Catholic Church teaches that the use of artificial birth control is morally wrong and a serious sin. It also maintains that marriage is between one man and one woman, in a life-long commitment, open to the creation and rearing of children.



