RESPONDING to questions from Synod members, the
Archbishop of Canterbury said that the report by the group
chaired by Sir Joseph Pilling, which was looking at policy in the
area of human sexuality, would be published "soon". Responding to
supplementary questions, he said that "'soon' means not very long,
fairly imminently, but not very soon".
He confirmed that the Pilling group had completed its work, and
said that the report "will be a document which will offer findings
and recommendations from the members of the group for the Church of
England to consider. It will not be a new policy statement from the
Church of England. That will be made quite clear when the report is
published."
It would be for the Synod to decide whether "there were any
question of looking again at the motion passed by the Synod in
1987".
Gerald O'Brien (Rochester) suggested that the
Synod should take part in "facilitated discussions" of the kind
that took place in July about women bishops, before it took any
vote on the Pilling report.