THE Bishop of Worcester has attacked evangelicals for inadvertently provoking attacks on homosexuals with their opposition to the appointment of Dr Jeffrey John as the next Bishop of Reading.

The Right Rev Peter Selby said that the open letter by nine senior bishops earlier this week speaking out against the appointment of the openly gay Dr John was inappropriate and should not have been made public.

In a letter of response to the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, which has been signed by seven other bishops, Bishop Selby attacked his fellow bishops for the “serious and unwarranted pressure” they have put on Dr John and his male partner.

He told The Times that the nine evangelical and Anglo-Catholic bishops were in effect provoking homophobia.

He said: “What I don’t think they are noticing is what they are doing helps people who are homophobic bigots, because what it does is to supply religious rationality for their attitudes and behaviour.”

He emphasised that the evangelicals were not intentionally promoting homophobia, but cautioned that it could be a consequence of their actions.

“I think what they are are bishops who are intelligent, conscientious, respectful people and because of that I find it very difficult to imagine they are doing something that actually supports outrageous and violent behaviour by other people.

“And although they would not go out on a Saturday night with a broken bottle and attack a gay person, and would be appalled if anybody did, the problem is that the instrument they are using, which is a pen, is very powerful to achieve a similar end.”

Bishop Selby added: “There is no question that people use what they hear from religious people, especially conservative religious pronouncements, in support of behaviour that people who made those announcements would deplore.

“I think we are responsible for the predictable consequences of our actions.”

The letter supporting Dr John was e-mailed to 19 bishops on Thursday night to counteract a letter from the nine diocesan bishops who have openly criticised the appointment as a threat to church unity. Although the liberal bishops are anxious not to exacerbate the deepening divisions that threaten to split the Church, they were aware that of the effect that their silence was having.

Bishop Selby said: “Some kind of supportive statement is important because not saying anything is saying something. I do so with enormous reluctance.”

But the rift deepened further as a group of leading evangelicals demanded a meeting with Dr Williams, warning him that the consecration of Dr John in October would be “catastrophic” for the Church. The evangelicals spoke out after a meeting with the Bishop of Oxford, the Right Rev Richard Harries, to discuss their concerns.

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