The Church of England must show it can manage disagreement “gracefully” over issues such as women bishops and gay marriage, the Archbishop of Canterbury has warned.

The Most Rev Justin Welby said the Church faced a “challenge” of showing the rest of society that its members can hold different views but still remain “gracefully and deeply committed to each other” before it could be a “sign to the world” of peace and reconciliation.

“We need to understand reconciliation within the Church as the transformation of destructive conflict, not unanimity,” he said.

“It doesn’t mean we all agree, it is that we find ways of disagreeing, perhaps very passionately but loving each other deeply at the same time, gracefully and deeply committed to each other.

“That is the challenge for the Church and that is the challenge if the Church is actually going to speak to our society which is increasingly divided in many different ways, here and overseas, over huge issues.”

via  Huffngton Post