Church of England bishops are heading for an early clash with Dr Rowan Williams, who now looks certain to be Archbishop of Canterbury, over their plans to defend the Church's ban on the ordination of practising homosexuals.
A confidential new document, drafted by a group of senior bishops, is understood to bolster the House of Bishops 1991 paper Issues in Human Sexuality, which permitted gay relationships among lay people but not clergy.
But liberals, including Dr Williams, the Archbishop of Wales, have denounced the policy for encouraging double standards and say that it is "unsustainable".
After Downing Street let it be known yesterday that Dr Williams would be appointed as the next Archbishop of Canterbury within weeks, senior clerics predicted that the document could provoke fierce battles in the Church.
The draft, described as a "guide" to the debate rather than a development of policy, has been drawn up by a group led by the Bishop of Oxford, the Rt Rev Richard Harries.
Members of the group believe that Issues in Human Sexuality, which called on clergy to adopt different standards of sexual behaviour from lay people, has maintained a fragile peace on an issue that threatens to be more divisive than that of women priests.
The draft is expected to be discussed by the full House of Bishops in October, the last to be chaired by the retiring Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr George Carey, an opponent of any sexual activity outside marriage. If the document is approved it could restrain the liberals, who want to relax the ban on practising homosexuals, a move which evangelicals warn will split the Church.
One of the bishops involved in drafting the document said Dr Williams would find it hard to shift the present policy. "The tone might change, but there will be no rapid development of policy," he said. "Our new paper is not intended to prevent further debate, but it does start with the policy of Issues in Human Sexuality."
However, liberal bishops said they would be impatient for reform. One said there was now a "working majority" among their number for further liberalisation.
The group of four senior bishops responsible for the new document has been collating scientific and theological opinions on the issue.
In July last year, Dr Williams criticised the Church of England, saying that its acceptance of stable gay relationships among the laity but not the clergy was a "contradiction" that could not be sustained.
"If the Church's mind is that homosexual behaviour is intrinsically sinful, then it is intrinsically sinful for everyone," he said. Dr Williams, who has admitted ordaining a practising homosexual, said the present situation forced such clergy to be duplicitous.
He further alarmed evangelicals after it emerged last week that he had agreed to speak to a conference organised by gay rights groups next year, even if he is by then at Canterbury.
The news that Tony Blair has approved Dr Williams surfaced in newspapers yesterday, refuelling anger among clerics dismayed by the leak of Dr Williams's name last month.
One Synod member said yesterday: "Now it seems that even Downing Street has been bounced into confirming that Rowan is their man to stop the gossip. The whole thing is discredited."