He added that a debate by the Anglican Church in Canada on gay marriages later this month was a further provocation, as was the treatment of conservative parishes by liberal bishops in America.

In a letter reflecting the fury of the conservatives, the Archbishop
also criticised the chairman of the Lambeth Commission, set up by the
Archbishop of Canterbury to avert schism, for appearing to favour the
liberals.

The accusation against the Primate of Ireland, Archbishop Robin Eames,
is particularly embarrassing because Archbishop Gomez is a fellow member of the 17-strong commission, hand-picked by Dr Rowan Williams.

The dispute is the first to surface publicly from within the commission
upon which the Church's future depends, and will raise fears that the
body will not be able to produce a unanimous report in October.

In his reply to Archbishop Gomez, Dr Eames implicitly acknowledged that the liberals were in danger of destabilizing attempts to broker a peace deal between the factions.

But he failed to provide any indication of how the liberal agenda could
be curbed.

Archbishop Gomez, the conservatives' most respected spokesman, said that his wing of the Church - the vast majority of Anglicans worldwide - had heeded calls for restraint, but the liberals had not.

"This is only likely to create a situation where the playing field is
perceived as skewed - conservative reaction is held back, whilst liberal
viewpoints are allowed to claim too much territory," he said.

"It creates the question in many minds, 'Why should we wait, if others
are not showing the same restraint?' "

Dr Eames signaled in his reply that there could be an effort to persuade
the Canadian General Synod against backing a motion in Niagara that
would pave the way for same sex unions in the province. He said all
sides should "hold back from advancing controversial causes until, as a
Communion, we have begun to discern publicly the way in which to handle the issues."

END