Today the Church of England has announced that civil partnerships between men and women are not as good as matrimony.

A statement issued today by the House of Bishops, headed by Most Reverend Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, discussed the reforms in marriage law for the first time. 

The pastoral declaration added that marriage,' continues to provide the best framework for raising children.'

The bishops defined marriage as ' a loyal, devoted, lasting and legally sanctioned relationship between a man and a woman making a public commitment to one another ' and ' central to human society's stability and health. '

Upon winning a Supreme Court case to change the law, married pair Rebecca Steinfeld and Charles Keidan became one of the first couples to tie the knot in a wedding in Dec.

The pair, who advocated for mixed-sex civil partnerships, registered in Kensington and Chelsea Registry their ' more conventional ' relationship.

The change in the law requires couples up and down the country to enter into civil partnerships rather than a marriage after a legal win in 2018 in the Supreme Court.

The couple, meeting in 2010 with two kids, said marriage "treated women as property."

Rules have been changed to expand civil partnerships to everyone – available since 2005 to same-sex couples.

The statement issued by the House of Bishops, which comprises all 42 of the highest diocesan bishops, added: ' In connection with the registration of civil partnerships, it would not be correct to create an approved public liturgy.

The Church's teaching on sexual ethics remains unchanged for opposite sex civil partnerships, and with those for same sex couples. To Christians, marriage-that is the lifelong union between a man and a woman, agreed to make vows-remains the appropriate context to sexual activity.'