US Anglicans meet over gay clergy

Dr Rowan Williams is making an eleventh-hour plea to US bishops

The Archbishop of Canterbury is embarking on a last-ditch effort to persuade the US Anglican Church to end the ordination of gay bishops.

Dr Rowan Williams has two days to convince American bishops meeting in New Orleans to comply with the demands.

He has previously warned that the Anglican Church risks being torn apart by the row over gay clergy.

The dispute was prompted by the US Episcopal Church's ordination of an openly gay bishop in 2003.

'Deeply unpalatable'

The Episcopal Church is the American wing of the 77 million-strong Anglican Communion.

It has been told it will lose its full membership of the Communion unless it agrees to end the ordination of gay bishops and the blessing of same-sex relationships.

It also has to agree to set up a self-governing enclave for traditionalists before the 30 September deadline.

The ordination of gay Bishop Gene Robinson divided Anglicans

The BBC's religious affairs correspondent Robert Pigott said the dispute has proved so "devastating" because it hinged on fundamental differences of how strictly the bible should be interpreted.

He described the demands being made on the Episcopal Church as "deeply unpalatable" for them.

Speaking in April, Dr Williams said: "It's not just about nice people who want to include gay and lesbian Christians, and nasty people who want not to include them.

"The question is, really, 'What are the forms of behaviour that the Church has the freedom or the authority to bless if it wants to be faithful to scripture and tradition?'

"That's the question which is tearing us apart at the moment."