Letter: Laying the blame

Sir: "Navel watching among the bishops" (7 August) indicates that you are unclear as to the distinction between the Church of England and the Anglican Communion. The former is the Established Church in the provinces of Canterbury and York; the latter is an affiliation of autonomous churches over which Canterbury has no authority.

The 1998 Lambeth conference was blighted by two things: the fundamental spleen of some African bishops and the weak and inept chairmanship of the Archbishop of Canterbury. The Church of England has many faults, but it would help if you could lay the blame for this recent debacle where it belongs.

THE REV ROBERT TORRENS

Chippenham

Cambridge