Interviewer. So does that mean that you think that a divorce, if I can put it in those terms, or the expelling or the separation of the American Churches from the rest of the communion is now less likely?

ABC. Well lets say I think we are more in marriage counselling mode than in the divorce court.

Interviewer: If the North American churches do not observe moratoria on the consecration of so called gay bishops and the blessing of same sex unions, will they be welcome as full members of the next Lambeth Conference?

ABC. I do not want to second guess what the official bodies of the North American churches might do on this. I think what has been said to them this week is that the cost of carrying on with this particular set of unilateral developments is very high. It might mean that they may not be welcome at the next Lambeth conference but we are still discussing and talking about that.

Interviewer. Some of course have called on ECUSA to repent. They are most unlikely to do so. Do you think they should express repentance both for the actions and for the consequences of their actions?

ABC: The kind of repentance that has been called for that has been implied in the Windsor Report and has been touched on in our meeting this week is not only about the substantive issue but it is about the fact that the cost of actions and decisions like this was put to them and the feeling in some provinces is very very strongly that even if this were another kind of issue the injury to the development of a common mind is so strong that it is something for which they ought to repent, not just express regret.

Interviewer: Is that your view?

Archbishop of Canterbury: It is. I think that there was expressed quite clearly a sense that these actions would fracture the communion. I do not think that all those who took those actions in North America fully realised how deep that hurt and fracture might be.

Interviewer: Some of your critics have said you have decided to put unity before truth. In other words they say that Dr Williams the theologian holds a different view on these issues of homosexuality for example from Dr Williams the Archbishop of Canterbury. Is that true?

ABC: I have said that I do not think you can really separate unity and truth. Anything put forward within the church is one that is put forward for discernment, the discernment of the whole body as best as possible. So that I am not there to advance personal views or a private agenda. I am there to see what discernment the whole church comes to. If the whole church maintains its current discernment, well that is the church's right, the church's liberty.

Interviewer. I suppose what I am trying to get at is your absolute firm priority here to hold the communion together, rather than to give leadership from your own perspective and your own attitudes on these issues. In other words the main thing for you is not the archbishop who presides over the breakup of the Anglican Communion.

ABC. I value unity because I believe we learn truth from each other in this process. So I do not think it is a neutral or a managerial matter. And as I have indicated I do not think any archbishop is in a position simply to lead on a controversial issue with no regard to that unity and that common discernment, and with due respect to one or two commentators in the last couple of days, I am not a party political leader elected to push forward this particular agenda.

Interviewer. Do you think that a priest living in a loving, committed, and physically expressed same-sex relationship is living in sin?

ABC. The view of the communion, the view of the Church of England bishops as a whole, is that this is not something that the church can publicly recognise as acceptable. That is the view which as archbishop I must maintain.

Interviewer: And do you privately think that it is a question of living in sin?

ABC. Privately is privately isn't it? I've seen that there is a case for thinking about our discipline. That's been said. That's been discussed. But the church has not changed its view on that.

Interviewer. Can I now move on and look at the future Do you regret the way that this issue has dominated the first two years of your leadership?

ABC Frankly yes I do. I think there is a huge challenge not only in this country but worldwide for the Christian churches. I think that the impression that is given to the world is quite clearly that we are preoccupied with internal divisions rather than with the urgent needs of a world suffering in poverty and the country for which religion is a very often a remote and unattractive possibility. I think there are challenges we ought to be meeting and this has certainly drained away a lot of energy.

Interviewer: And how do you move on. Is it likely that as a result of your meeting last week that for three years this won't be discussed or is it as I guess that it is more likely that this will not go away?

ABC. It certainly wont go away and I think the communique recognises precisely that. It asks for the Anglican Consultative Council to arrange a hearing on these issues at which the views of American and Canadian Churches can be fairly set out in a public forum. It asks the Anglican Consultative Council to pursue the business of listening to one another that has been called for. But if I can just add I think the communique also represents, and this has more or less disappeared from a lot of public perception, quite a bit of discussion this week on precisely those mission and engagement issues which are around for us. So we had a presentation on the millennium development goals and the role of the churches in furthering those and I think that has certainly not fallen off the edge of our consideration in the middle of all this.

Interviewer: What the communique does not do is suggest that it would be a good thing if you or people at the centre of the communion have any more power so that you could deal with what some would say were disciplinary issues earlier and perhaps stop these crises arising. In fact the primates said we are cautious of any development which would seem to imply the creation of an internal jurisdiction which could override our proper provincial autonomy. This could be interpreted as saying "get your tanks off our lawns".

ABC. What was interesting was that those suggestions in the Windsor Report which seemed to move towards a greater degree of central authority were not welcome either the North Americans or to the rest of the communion. That is to say there is a strong sense of local identity and of feeling that the internally appointed archbishop of one province in the communion - that's me - it is not appropriate for such a person to have anything remotely like a papal authority in the church.

Interviewer. Can I ask a personal question? How difficult have the first years been for you leading the Anglican Communion and as Archbishop of Canterbury? There have been reports that you have been very personally upset and distressed by this issue. Is that true?

ABC. I have found it difficult, yes, to feel that the priorities I would like to see taken forward in the Church of England and in the communion more widely have been constantly deflected or overshadowed by this very very divisive issue. I would like to think that it is still possible as I said when I was first appointed to do something to recapture the imagination of the country for the church and this has not helped.

END