The Church of Ireland Bishop of Meath and Kildare, the Most Rev Richard Clarke, has said he could not "dismiss as intrinsically disordered a faithful relationship between two people of the same gender (however that relationship may be expressed), which brings generosity and goodness and kindness into the lives of those around".
This was so even if in his reading of the scriptures, he could see "no reasonable parallel or equivalence between the union of man and woman in marriage, with the union of two people of the same gender", he said.
Next month, Anglican primates from around the world will meet in London to discuss homosexuality following the crisis thrust upon the Anglican Communion by the election of Canon Gene Robinson, an openly gay man, as Bishop of New Hampshire last month.
Speaking to the Meath and Kildare diocesan synod at the weekend, Bishop Clarke referred to his opposition to a resolution passed at the Lambeth Conference in 1998 which opposed any relaxation of the church's teaching on homosexuality.
Bishop Clarke said it seemed to him the resolution closed down the discussion on homosexuality rather than opened it.
"I have never regretted doing so although, sadly, that resolution is now being regarded by some almost as a touchstone for Christian faithfulness."
Speaking at the Clogher diocesan synod over the weekend, Bishop Michael Jackson said: "We in the Church of Ireland have not, nor I hope will we ever, condemn those who are homosexual as unworthy of the love of God and the pastoral care of the church..
All "baptised, believing and faithful persons, regardless of sexual orientation, are full members of the Body of Christ".
He said that "sexual definition has become too automatic a point of definition of people as people. We need to be sensitive about an area of life which is not our immediate business."
At the Tuam diocesan synod, Bishop Richard Henderson noted "that deep religious conviction can make one surprisingly indifferent to the cries of fellow human beings".
Discussion on the issue "must be extraordinarily generous, open, attentive, sensitive", he said.
It needed to be "cleared of the voices of the more strident lobbyists from both sides. It must be pastoral and not adversarial." People must be "open to be changed - in either direction".
"For myself, I have found it extraordinarily difficult to surrender my liberal inclination and in my thoughts and prayers to say, in effect, 'Lord I surrender and will obey and go where you will'," Bishop Henderson said.
