SPLITS in the Anglican Church widened last night after two senior archbishops called for the new Bishop of Reading, who is a passionate advocate for gay rights, to stand down.

The Archbishop of the West Indies, the Most Rev Drexel Gomez, and the Primate of Nigeria, the Most Rev Peter Akinola, called for the appointment of Canon Jeffrey John to be rescinded because of his advocacy of same-sex blessings.

Archbishop Gomez, author of True Union in the Body, a report to the recent meeting of the 38 primates in Brazil which influenced them to oppose the sanctioning of same-sex blessings, predicted that there would be “a break in communion” if the dispute was not resolved.

“I was surprised by the appointment of Jeffrey John and I think it is going to do a lot of harm,” he said. He urged him not to take up the appointment. “It would help the Church if he did stand down. His appointment places the Church of England in an invidious position.”

Archbishop Akinola said that the appointment of Canon John would have damaging repercussions globally. In an interview with The Church of England Newspaper he said that the appointment was a “trap” for the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams.

He called on Dr Williams to send out a signal in support of the orthodox line, which he has pledged publicly to uphold, and to reconsider the appointment.

If Dr Williams fails to act in the case of Canon John or the other disputes over homosexuality in the Anglican Church worldwide, schism seems inevitable.

Canon John, chancellor and theologian at Southwark Cathedral, was chosen to be Suffragan Bishop of Reading by the Bishop of Oxford, the Right Rev Richard Harries, who chairs the Church of England’s working party on sexuality.

Canon John, a bachelor who has declined to comment on his own sexuality, has contributed to a prayer book for homosexuals which includes prayers for sex changes, same-sex marriages and “fantasy and fetish”. He is also the leading thinker behind Affirming Catholicism, the Church’s liberal movement, which was created by Dr Williams.

Canon John is due to be consecrated in October, succeeding the Right Rev Dominic Walker, but the appointment has also caused local protests. A petition against his appointment signed by 100 clergy and lay people in the Diocese of Oxford has been sent to Bishop Harries, describing Canon John as a passionate advocate of same-sex “marriages”. A number of people have also written to Bishop Harries in support.

The vacancy in Reading was created by the choice of Dr Williams to go to Canterbury. The vacancy that his elevation created in Monmouth in Wales was filled in March by Bishop Walker.

The disputes leave Dr Williams, primus inter pares, or first among equals, of the primates of the Anglican Communion, facing some of the most difficult decisions of his career.

Dr Williams, who publicly takes the traditional line against gay relationships as set out in the 1998 Lambeth Conference resolution, has already expressed “sadness and disquiet” over the authorised blessing for a same-sex couple that took place in the New Westminster diocese in Canada last week.

This week, the Province of Nigeria declared itself “out of communion” with the New Westminster Diocese because of the blessings.

The Rev Richard Thomas, spokesman for the Oxford Diocese, said: “Jeffrey John is a fine priest whose focus has been entirely on church growth and mission and it is for this reason that the Diocese of Oxford has welcomed his appointment.”

He said that Canon John had “publicly and privately” stated that he will uphold the position of the Church of England’s bishops, as set out in the document Issues in Human Sexuality, which stipulates celibacy for gay clergy but sanctions gay relationships for the laity.

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