London:The Church of England's most senior cleric is facing an "unprecedented" attack on his authority after senior clergy condemned his more liberal stance on gay priests, the Guardian said.
The newspaper said 17 of Anglicanism's 38 primates had signed a "highly personal" letter to the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, urging him to take action against "unrepented sexual immorality" in the Church.
"We wonder whether your personal dissent from this consensus prevents you from taking the necessary steps to confront those churches that have embraced teaching contrary to the communion," the letter read.
"We urge you to rethink your personal view and embrace the church's consensus. And to act on it as it is clear in the witness of scripture."
The letter, which the newspaper said it had seen, was published as senior Church leaders from around the world met at the Church's "parliament", the General Synod, in London.
The issue of gay clergy is one of the most contentious facing the Anglican Church, which counts about 77 million followers worldwide, particularly between more liberal Western countries and the more conservative African
Churches.
Divisions have been heightened since Anglicans in the United States -- the US Episcopal Church -- endorsed the election of an openly gay bishop, Gene Robinson, in the diocese of New Hampshire in 2003.
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