The letter accuses Carey of attempting to set himself up as an “alternative leader” to Rowan Williams after a series of interventions on highly sensitive issues. Carey has become a figurehead for those attempting to stop Williams taking the church in a liberal direction over issues such as women bishops, gay clergy and accommodation with Islam.

Supporters of Williams, who succeeded Carey in 2002, have drawn up the open letter and anticipate that 15 bishops will sign it. The letter will be sent to Carey and published soon.

Michael Marshall, Assistant Bishop of London, said: “I will put my signature to that immediately.” Colin Slee, Dean of Southwark, who also intends to sign the letter, said: “There is a steadily increasing anxiety that one narrow sector of the church is trying to reject our broad Anglican generosity.”

John Gladwin, Bishop of Chelmsford, said: “The Archbishop of Canterbury has a right to the full support of all the bishops and the primates across the world as we try to sort out the challenges that face us today.”

The letter to Carey says: “Your actions in retirement are . . . discourteous to Archbishop Rowan Williams as he attempts to hold together the Anglican communion . . . [He] deserves our respect and support, not the disloyalty which you currently display.

“We respectfully request that you desist from further intrusions into areas now beyond your control, and honour the convention of not undermining the work of your successor.”

While the letter is intended to help Williams, it highlights splits over his leadership. In February he had to deny rumours he was planning to retire early, in 2008. Lambeth Palace is said to be “saddened” by the frequency with which Carey “pops up” to take positions that increase his successor’s difficulties.

Interventions seen as unhelpful include Carey’s comment that he was “ashamed to be an Anglican” after the General Synod decided with Williams’s support to review church investments in Caterpillar, whose bulldozers have been used by the Israeli government to attack Palestinian buildings.

Carey also infuriated liberals when he travelled to Virginia in 2004 to conduct confirmations of 300 church members opposed to homosexual clergy. The letter says of the trip: “You appear to be offering yourself as an alternative leader.”

Carey has been at odds with Williams since at least 1998, when he opposed his nomination to the bishopric of Southwark.

Williams was disappointed by Carey’s disclosure of private meetings with members of the royal family in his 2004 autobiography. Williams has told friends Carey’s remarks made him feel compromised in trying to establish a private, pastoral relationship with the royal family.

About nine of the Church of England’s 44 diocesan bishops are thought broadly to back Carey’s conservative stance; about 12 believe Williams is insufficiently liberal, while the remaining 23 broadly support him.

Carey said: “I am fully supportive of the Archbishop of Canterbury. The authors of the open letter seem intent on creating division where there is none.”

In his Easter sermon today, Williams will warn that the “conspiracies and cover-ups” portrayed by books such as The Da Vinci Code and the recently discovered Gospel of Judas may appeal to readers’ liking for mysteries, but believing such stories is an easy option for people who find the biblical message too difficult to understand.

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