LONDON: A top leader of the Church of England said he was 'extremely joyful' about plans to allow church blessings for same-sex couples, but warned that deep divisions still existed among the world's Anglicans over the issue.'I will be extremely, joyfully celebratory of these new [prayers of blessing],' Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby told a news conference. But he said he would not personally offer such blessings, because of opposition by much of the worldwide Anglican Communion, of which he is the ceremonial head. 'I will not personally use them in order not to compromise that pastoral care,' he told reporters at his official London residence, Lambeth Palace.Highlighting the difficult position the church finds itself in, Welby's colleague Stephen Cottrell, the archbishop of York, said he would offer such blessings.Cottrell fought back tears as he recounted the story of a late friend, who was a priest in a gay relationship with another priest. No biblical readings were allowed in the couple's secular marriage service.The church will still not allow same-sex church weddings, due to opposition from the Anglican Communion that makes up the bulk of its congregation.But it has quelled the immediate row with its compromise.Bishops met on Tuesday to finalize recommendations for a six-year consultation on the issue, which affirmed the church's teaching that holy matrimony exists between one man and one woman for life.The issue will not be put to a vote at the General Synod, the church's legislative body, when it meets in London early next month.However, Welby warned that splits could reemerge.'I can't predict the future,' he said. 'We're divided and there's no point in pretending otherwise.''The Church of England and the Anglican Communion are very divided,' he added. 'There are widely different views. The vast majority of the Anglican Communion hold to the traditional view.'The Anglican Communion is made up of 43 churches around the world in 165 countries, with about 85 million members.Despite the division, Welby said the church's global leaders were in agreement that 'God, in His love and grace, came as fully human ... in order to reach out to every human being, whatever their sexuality or color or race or gender.'Welby recognized that the church had often responded to the issue of homosexuality in a 'negative and harmful' manner, recounting how a friend had killed himself because of its reaction to his coming out.Cottrell also accepted that 'we got it wrong.''Nobody gets up in the morning saying they want to hurt and damage people, but we have,' he said.'We're not saying we think we've got it right now, but we are saying this is a good place to where we can live together with our disagreements and fully acknowledge and welcome [LGBTQ+ members],' he added, using the acronym of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer.