AFTER years of prevarication over homosexuality, the Church of England was today heading for a crunch on the controversy as bishops of the worldwide Anglican Communion were poised to vote on it.

In effect, they will be declaring whether homosexual practices are acceptable or not; whether they are sin or not.

And though this is a juncture - albeit an unofficial one in that the bishops' Lambeth conference has no jurisdiction to determine dogma - which perhaps many in the church would prefer to avoid, such a decision could not be put off for ever when the issue threatens to divide the church.

But, surely, it is not just a matter of whether the church should accept homosexuality per se - many could easily go so far - but of whether it should accept and, so, bless homosexual acts.

It has always taught they are wrong and, despite some supercilious protests by liberal western bishops, the conservative African bishops, who have reminded the conference of this teaching, can hardly be blamed for doing so.

With the threat of schism overshadowing their vote, the bishops ought perhaps to seek guidance from their flock - the majority of whom would say that the scriptures which the church has always taught is what it cannot alter without beginning to bless sin, no matter what the mood of the times may be.

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