We recognise that there are challenges in understanding and responding to different cultural contexts. The role of law in relation to sexual behaviour and wider social policy and cultural commitments -- such as supporting family structures and resisting global forces seen as undermining these structures -- is complex. We also confess that we and the Church of England have failed and continue to fall short in various ways in our churches and in our responses to our own culture.

The Archbishop of South Sudan, the Most Revd Justin Badi, and the Archbishop of Sydney, the Most Revd Kanishka Raffel, are expected to be present at the meetings.

The invitation email also asks that those who are invited "do not 'promote' these gatherings", as "communications around it might be a little sensitive and we need to ensure that they are overseen via the CEEC Comms team."

He wrote: "It is profoundly Christian to do all we can to ensure nobody suffers against their wishes. Some people believe they will find meaning in their own suffering in their final months and weeks of life. I respect that, but it cannot be justified to expect others to share that belief."

He said the Bible "contributes nothing directly to this debate" and that nothing in Christian teaching addresses the problem posed by the advancement of modern medicine.

In his preaching, the 65-year-old bachelor encouraged his young audiences to resist the lure of premarital sex, which he sometimes compared to fighting the persistent impulse to eat a chocolate cake.