By Tim Butcher in Jordan and Martin Beckford

Last Updated: 9:12AM BST 19/06/2008

Hardline Church leaders have formally declared the end of the worldwide Anglican Communion, saying they can no longer be associated with liberals who tolerate homosexual clergy.

The traditionalists dealt a serious blow to Dr Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, by claiming that he can no longer hold the Church together.

They warned that the Church was gripped by its most serious crisis since the Reformation.

It could only be saved by the repentance of the Americans who triggered the row by ordaining a homosexual bishop, the Rt Rev Gene Robinson, five years ago.

The formal pronouncement of the schism is contained in an 89-page document titled The Way, the Truth and the Life, which has been drawn up by conservative Anglicans ahead of the breakaway Gafcon summit next week and which has been seen by The Telegraph.

It is supported by the heads of key African churches including Nigeria, Uganda and Rwanda.

Archbishop Peter Akinola, the primate of Nigeria, states in one section: “There is no longer any hope, therefore, for a unified Communion.”

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/2153935/Hardline-archbishops- declare-Anglican-split.html

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