(London) Closer collaboration with African Pentecostal Churches and more freedom for Anglican bishops to work locally with their Christian counterparts from other Churches, even when the latter do not exist at national level. The Synod of the Church of England, which ends today at the University of York, “has decided to update and simplify the rules on ecumenism, which dated back to 1988, to give new impetus to the mission of evangelising the rest of the world”, Fr. John O’Toole, the representative of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales at the Synod, told SIR news agency. “Pastors, lay people, bishops and representatives of the major Christian Churches also put a lot of work into a document about identity, sexuality and marriage. By 2020, they hope to publish a doctrinal document on this matter”, Fr. John O’Toole explained. The Catholic representative at the Synod also noted that, during the debate on nuclear stockpiles, the Synod of the Church of England recalled Pope Francis’ words and decided to ask the Government to adopt the 2017 UN Treaty prohibiting the use of nuclear weapons as “dangerous and unnecessary”.