Church of England and gay marriage: Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby welcomes blessing for gay couples but will not personally carry them out

Justin Welby spoke as the Church of England issued a formal apology for its historic rejection and exclusion of LGBTQI+ people.

Plans to allow such blessings for the first time were outlined earlier this week, but the position on gay marriage will not change and same-sex couples will still be unable to marry at church.

The blessings have been welcomed by some as progress on what is a divisive issue but others have said they do not go far enough.

Mr Welby said while he is "extremely joyfully celebratory" of the proposals, he will not offer them in his role as the highest-ranking religious leader of a church which has varying views on the subject.

He told a press conference at Lambeth Palace Library today: "Because of my pastoral care and responsibility of being a focus of unity for the whole communion I will, while being extremely joyfully celebratory of these new resources, I will not personally use them in order not to compromise that pastoral care."

Mr Welby also spoke movingly of a parish priest he had known in the past who was gay.

He said: "The next thing I heard was that the pressure of living with the church's attitude had led to his suicide."

He said he wished the priest could be "here today because I think he would be able to feel that, perhaps it wasn't everything he wanted, but it said that he wasn't a lesser".

He added: "I'm really pleased that we've done what we've done and I just wish that certain people could be here today and know about it."

Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell, who became emotional as he spoke about a change he believes "puts the Church of England in a better place", confirmed he will offer blessings, but added: "I completely support and understand Archbishop Justin's position."

Bishop of London Dame Sarah Mullally described the blessings move as a "significant change" but acknowledged it will be voluntary for clergy to decide whether they want to perform them, likening it to the situation with the marriage of people who have been divorced.

She said Mr Welby had made "a sacrificial step" in his decision not to use the new blessings which was "clearly the right one for him".

Asked this week to comment on what the move would mean for the Church of Ireland (CoI), a spokesman responded that the decision would be "entirely a matter for the Church of England".

He added: "Our position, as it was in 2012, is outlined in the General Synod resolution on human sexuality in the context of Christian belief."

That document states that the denomination "continues to uphold its teaching that marriage is part of God’s creation and a holy mystery in which one man and one woman become one flesh".

The CoI General Synod considered blessing same-sex relationships in 2017, however it was rejected - in a relatively narrow vote. Clerics opposed the move by 72 to 56 with nine abstentions while laity opposed it by 104 to 90 with 15 abstentions, showing significant support for the liberal reform.