THE openly homosexual canon who withdrew from his appointment as Bishop of Reading will discuss his future with his bishop this week.

Dr Jeffrey John is also to meet the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, and Tony Sadler, his appointments secretary, within the next few weeks. Sources said that he might be in line for a cathedral deanery and could even be considered for another bishopric in five or ten years, if the anti-homosexual climate cools.

Dr John is in a long-term relationship but has abided by the bishops’ policy document Issues in Human Sexuality, published in 1991, which demands celibacy from clergy, although not from the laity.

Dr John, who has resumed work as Canon Theologian at Southwark Cathedral, said yesterday that he was “saddened and disappointed” that he could not move to Reading. He had received hundreds of messages of support from people in the area.

In a letter to the Reading Chronicle, he said: “As well as messages from Anglican clergy and laity, many came from leaders and representatives of other denominations and of other faiths, looking forward to our working together.

“This avalanche of kindness has left me all the more saddened and disappointed that I cannot now come to serve you as your bishop.

“We have to keep praying, keep making our communion, keep studying the scriptures, keep loving those who hurt and reject us.

“Love wins in the end and, if we are faithful, in the end we will build a Church that looks more like Jesus, and that will truly be a home for all God’s children.”

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