After four sessions of "quietly impassioned, but respectful debate" — the Synod's first in-person meeting since the Covid lockdowns — the Archbishop of Cape Town, Dr Thabo Makgoba, announced that the Bishops were unable to reach consensus. They also ruled out marriages in churches for same-sex couples.

"At the end of the debate, we accepted that we are not of one mind on this matter. The divisions within the Synod of Bishops reflect the divisions in the Church as a whole, and we are not at peace with one another on this issue," the archbishop told the Synod last Friday.

Read More