Lord Carey, who has become a champion of orthodoxy in the Anglican Church since stepping down from the top job in 2002, was due to speak at Bangor Cathedral, North Wales, in February. The Dean of Bangor, the Very Rev Alun Hawkins, is understood to have imposed the unprecedented ban because he feels that Lord Carey has become a “divisive force” and has been “disloyal” to his successor, Dr Rowan Williams, who was born in Wales.

Relations have been strained since Lord Carey blocked the appointment of Dr Williams as Bishop of Southwark because he believed that he was too liberal on the gay issue.

Lord Carey’s lecture, one of four he was due to deliver in Wales, had been organised by the Church Mission Society. John Martin, of the society, said about the Dean: “He felt George had become a factor of disunity and of disloyalty to Rowan Williams, a divisive force. He also questioned whether inviting George Carey to speak was a sign that the society was lurching to the right. We pointed out that in fact we have had a very balanced series of lecturers.”

Cathedral deans have the power to refuse entry to anyone, including their own diocesan bishop, but it is extremely rare for a dean to invoke this power. The ban is even more extraordinary given that, in his retirement, Lord Carey is an assistant bishop in South Wales.

The Dean of Bangor was unavailable for comment, but the Rev Emyr Parri, the chaplain to the Bishop of Bangor, said: “The Bishop is aware of the situation. Although he himself would not have made that decision, he recognises that it is the Dean’s prerogative to make decisions regarding the cathedral. The Bishop will give him his support.”

Lord Carey said: “It does appear that the Dean has refused to let me speak because apparently he thinks I will undermine Rowan Williams’s ministry in what I say. It is quite extraordinary.” He added that he had not been planning to refer to Dr Williams in his lecture, which will now be given at St Paul’s Church, Craig y Don, Llandudno.

A spokesman for Lambeth Palace said: “A dean is master of all that he or she surveys — twas ever thus.”

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