Rowan Williams accused of helping to 'destroy Church'
Ruth Gledhill, Religion Correspondent of The Times
January 16, 2007

A senior American bishop has launched an extraordinary attack on the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, accusing him of aiding and abetting "those who would destroy our Church".

The Bishop of Bethlehem in Pennsylvania, the Right Rev Paul Marshall, charges Dr Williams with endorsing the "crudely divisive" actions of conservatives and of "callous treatment" of North American Anglicans over the issue of homsexuality.

Bishop Marshall, who has been condemned as "revisionist" by conservatives, says Dr Williams has made a "laughing stock" of the US church over the gay issue.

In a document posted on an internal church discussion website, he accuses Dr Williams of "shunning" liberal British bishops while meeting conservatives such as Bob Duncan, Bishop of Pittsburgh.

In language reminiscent of battles fought over race and slavery, he also accuses the Archbishop of appointing a "virtual lynch mob" to draft a new unity document, or covenant, intended to avert schism.

He describes this as tantamount to turning the Anglican fellowship into a "curial bureaucracy" using tactics reminiscent of "the great and oppressive Coloniser."

He also compares the Archbishop to US leaders during Vietnam, arguing that just because Dr Williams is "smart", it does not mean he is right. the rest