Archbishops can't reach an agreement in the debate of assisted dying in the United Kingdom. The Irish Times reported that Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, who had previously been a strong advocate against assisted suicide, has announced he has now changed his stance.

Webly had previously stated that if the law were to allow assisted suicide then terminally ill people could be put under pressure by others to end their own lives so as not to be a burden.

Recently a man who suffered from locked-in syndrome died after being refused the right to die, and Lord Welby said that the case had had the deepest influence on his change of heart.

"Here was a dignified man making a simple appeal for mercy, begging that the law allow him to die in peace, supported by his family," Welby wrote in the Daily Mail. "His distress made me question my motives in previous debates. Had I been putting doctrine before compassion, dogma before human dignity?"

This comes at the same time as one of his predecessors, George Carey, has announced that he will oppose the Church of England by supporting legislation to allow assisted suicide.

"Today we face a central paradox. In strictly observing the sanctity of life, the Church could now actually be promoting anguish and pain, the very opposite of a Christian message of hope," Carey said.

The House of Lords will vote next week on a bill which would allow assisted suicide in cases where someone was mentally capable and had sex months or fewer to live.

Under current law someone found guilty of helping a person commit suicide faces up to 14 years in jail. Under the proposed law, two doctors would have to independently verify that the person was terminally ill and had reached the decision to die independently. The patient would also have to be informed of other end of life options.

According to The Telegraph, the Church of England has distanced itself from Carey's position but that this did not reflect the views of all of its members and leaders.

"The number of people who support this Bill is quite substantial even from practicing and active members of the Church of England and also other churches such as the Roman Catholics as well as for example the Jewish community," Lord Charles Falconer said.