The power-base of Sydney Anglicanism has denounced the church's new Archbishop of Canterbury and called for his resignation before he even starts.
The Council of the Anglican Church League (ACL), on which Sydney archbishop Peter Jensen serves as vice-president, has issued a statement "expressing regret" at the appointment of Rowan Williams as the next titular head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, on the grounds of his alleged support of same-sex relationships.
"If Dr Williams is unable to model, both publicly and personally, a clear and forthright commitment to the plain teaching of the Bible, he should withdraw his acceptance of the invitation and make room for another candidate who can lead the Anglican communion in faithfulness to the word of God," the statement says.
The ACL's statement has placed Sydney's archbishop in an embarrassing
predicament. As president of the Sydney synod, Dr Jensen oversaw a unanimous
vote congratulating Dr Williams on his appointment and assuring him of the
Sydney diocese's
continued prayers just two weeks earlier.
A spokeswoman for Dr Jensen said he would "absolutely not comment" as to whether he was involved in the drafting of the church league statement
The league's president, the Rev Zac Veron, said the call for Dr Williams's resignation was done in the interest of unity.
"We can't make him [stand aside] but we think that would be the appropriate thing to do," he said. "Leadership and ministry should flow out of personal conviction, yet he believes one thing and does another."
Mr Veron denied that he was calling Dr Williams a hypocrite.
The Australian Primate, Archbishop Peter Carnley, has since come to the defence of the new Archbishop of Canterbury.
The ACL's opposition to Dr Williams's appointment, he said, was probably based on ignorance.
"The ACL seem to be under the impression that their particular reading of the scriptures is the only orthodox reading," he said. "If they were to know a little bit more about Archbishop Williams's prayerfulness and commitment to Anglican orthodoxy, they might have had second thoughts."