The leader of the Church of England, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr George Carey, said yesterday he was "saddened" by the disruption of his Easter sermon by gay rights campaigners.
His comments came after Mr Peter Tatchell (46), and six other protesters hijacked Dr Carey's sermon at Canterbury Cathedral by rushing to the pulpit shouting "shame, shame". Members of the campaign group Outrage! held up signs declaring: "Carey opposes lesbian and gay human rights."
Mr Tatchell explained last night that he had staged the demonstration to highlight the archbishop's opposition to homosexual equality. He said that the archbishop opposed an equal age of consent for gay men and that he "condemns" gay marriage and refuses to support legal rights for homosexual couples.
As an astonished congregation of 2,000 people looked on, Mr Tatchell emerged from the main body of the cathedral and stood next to Dr Carey on the pulpit accusing him of discrimination against homosexuals. And at one stage he attempted to seize Dr Carey's arm to attract his attention.
Church officials eventually led Mr Tatchell and his supporters away from the pulpit with one official pinning Mr Tatchell's arms behind his back. For his part, Dr Carey remained unfazed by the protest and after he told the congregation "this has happened before and will doubtless happen again" he said a prayer and continued with his sermon.
Kent Police later arrested Mr Tatchell on suspicion of damaging a microphone on the pulpit. He was still being questioned last night.
After the service, Dr Carey said he did not believe that the protesters had advanced their cause: "The Church has written a report for debate entitled Issues in Human Sexuality, in which homosexuality is discussed. The Church welcomes discussion on this matter and is already involved with serious minded people in this debate."