The archbishop of Canterbury has been forced into a last-minute rethink of plans to ask Anglican bishops to oppose same-sex marriage when they meet this week for the first Lambeth conference – held in Canterbury – in 14 years. Liberal Anglicans and gay rights campaigners in the Church of England voiced outrage after the conference recently circulated a series of “calls” – similar to motions – for the 650 bishops and archbishops from around the world to consider. They included one that calls for a reaffirmation of a position that “upholds marriage as between a man and a woman”, that “legitimising or blessing of same-sex unions” cannot be advised, and that “it is the mind of the Anglican communion as a whole that same-gender marriage is not permissible”.