Anglican Church head Rowan Williams has warned church leaders that criticism of gay people could make them vulnerable to persecution or suicide.
The Anglican communion has been split over the role of homosexuals in the church after the Episcopalian Church in the United States appointed an openly gay bishop in New Hampshire.
In a letter to the communion's leaders dated Nov. 28, the Archbishop of Canterbury said the controversy had led many homosexual people, including those who are celibate, to "feel that there is no good news for them in the church."
"Remember that in many countries such people face real persecution and cruelty; even where there are no legal penalties, they suffer from a sense of rejection," Williams said in a copy of the letter released by his Lambeth Palace office.
"Young people are driven to suicide by the conviction that no one will listen to them patiently; many feel that they are condemned not for their behavior but for their nature," he added.
"Any words that could make it easier for someone to attack or abuse a homosexual person are words of which we must repent."
The 70-million-member Anglican Church has been divided over whether to ordain openly homosexual men and whether to bless same-sex marriages.
It was sparked last year by the appointment by the Episcopalians of Gene Robinson as their first openly gay bishop.
Traditionalist Anglicans, particularly Africans, denounced the move. They threaten to break with churches that bless same-sex unions and are considering ways to redraw the Anglican world map to escape liberal provinces.
Last month, Anglican leaders held a summit in London in an attempt to stop their loose association of churches falling apart over the issue.