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The Church of England's House of Bishops made headlines with the publication of their pastoral statement on civil partnerships. Not least for their claim that marriage, and only marriage, remains the proper context for sexual activity.

Which many took to mean that couples choosing to enter into civil partnerships, whether same-sex or heterosexual, were being called to a life of celibacy.

Now, some leading members of the Church of England have signed an excoriating open letter to the archbishops of Canterbury and York in response to this new guidance. Far from being pastoral, they say, the bishops' statement is "cold, defensive, and uncaring".

The Bishop of Buckingham, the Rt Revd Dr Alan Wilson, is a signatory to that Open Letter. And Rev Dr Ian Paul, who's a member of the general synod and the Archbishops Council.