It is clear from the document that any bishop wishing to push ahead in any way with affirmation of same-sex marriage will be in a obvious breach of this agreement.

Monday’s article on the appointment of the new Bishop of Gippsland made reference to “a private agreement on how to proceed on [the question of same-sex marriage]” put together by the Australian bishops. The agreement was described to davidould.net as “embargoed” and to be used at the bishops’ discretion.

This month’s issue of The Melbourne Anglican has a front-page article on the topic which is more than comprehensive…

Given that this “secret” document is now clearly public we are publishing the original version:

It is clear from the document that any bishop wishing to push ahead in any way with affirmation of same-sex marriage will be in a obvious breach of this agreement. It has been suggested to davidould.net that the agreement was required after a number of bishops suggested to their peers that they may proceed with some form of blessing of same-sex unions or even a marriage rite. Senior conservative figures that davidould.net have talked to since the agreement was made back in March have expressed their confidence in the document.

With this publication in the newspaper of the diocese of the Primate, not to mention the transparently conservative position taken by the 2017 General Synod, it seems clear that the boundaries and guidelines for any future engagement on this topic are firmly set.