The Church of England has backed the Catholic Church in its bid to be exempt from laws on adoption by gay couples.
Catholic leaders in England and Wales say its teachings prevent its agencies placing children with homosexuals and they will close if bound by the rules.

Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams and the Archbishop of York, John Sentamu, have written to the PM.

They say "rights of conscience cannot be made subject to legislation, however well-meaning".

The Equality Act, due to come into effect in England, Wales and Scotland in April, outlaws discrimination in the provision of goods, facilities and services on the basis of sexual orientation.

Matter of conscience

The archbishops said many people who do voluntary work are motivated by religious beliefs.

They point out exceptions have already been made for those whose conscience dictates they cannot take part in certain work, such as NHS doctors unwilling to perform abortions.

"When you over legislate and intervene too much in people's private lives, in the long run you end up with a statute being used to cure all ills which it cannot" Archbishop John Sentamu


"In legislating to protect and promote the rights of particular groups the government is faced with the delicate but important challenge of not thereby creating the conditions within which others feel their rights to have been ignored or sacrificed, or in which the dictates of personal conscience are put at risk," they said.

Archbishop Sentamu, speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, said: "The freedom of conscience cannot be made subject to legislation however well-meaning."

He said the Church was "absolutely" against discrimination, and also did not believe homosexuality was a sin.

Referring to a letter from the head of the Catholic Church in England and Wales, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, calling for an opt-out for adoption agencies, Archbishop Sentamu said: "But it doesn't mean that on this particular issue about the adoption agency he hasn't got a case."

'Legal spider's web'

Archbishop Sentamu warned: "When you over legislate and intervene too much in people's private lives I think in the long run you end up with a statute being used to cure all ills which it cannot.

"And I think the danger is therefore that to spin a legal spider's web from which actually nobody can escape".


"This is a row driven by a clash of principles, not by practical problems" BBC political editor Nick Robinson


Read Nick's thoughts in full
The row over whether Catholic adoption agencies should be exempt from the change in the law is said to have split the Cabinet.

Communities Secretary Ruth Kelly, who is Catholic, is reported to be pushing for an exemption.

Tony Blair's official spokesman said the prime minister was "leading the process of trying to find a way through those conflicting pressures".

He said: "This is a difficult issue. At the core of it are the children - not just those in care now but those receiving after-care."

It is understood that many Cabinet members are not prepared to concede on the issue, but the official spokesman said he was not aware that any had threatened to resign over it.

When asked if Cherie Blair, a Catholic, was playing any part in the process, as has been reported in Wednesday's Independent, the spokesman said: "This is not about personality, it is more serious than that."

The National Secular Society said that allowing an exemption for the Church would open the "floodgates for a never-ending series of demands".

Implications

But Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor has denied claims by secular and gay-rights activists that he is using "blackmail"