The archbishop of Canterbury believes the Church of England should change its teaching on homosexuality to accept gay relationships, his biographer was quoted as saying in a newspaper yesterday.

　　The Most Reverend Rowan Williams, who was enthroned as leader of the Church of England and the Anglican Communion in February, privately feels the church should alter its position on gays as it has done on slavery, marriage after divorce and money lending, Rupert Shortt wrote in his biography, an extract of which was published in The Times of London.

　　Before taking up his position as archbishop of Canterbury, Williams pledged to enforce a resolution adopted by the Lambeth Conference of Anglican bishops in 1998 condemning homosexual relations as "incompatible with Scripture" and opposing the blessing of same-sex unions and sex outside of marriage.

　　Williams, who was then archbishop of Wales, abstained in the voting on that resolution. As archbishop of Canterbury, he has said he will affirm the church's teaching rather than his personal views.

　　"The Lambeth resolution does not have the authoritative status of a Vatican decree - but it says what the mind of the Church is. I feel, in my public position, that I am bound to live with that," Williams said earlier this year in an interview with Church Times, a weekly British newspaper.

　　Shortt, who allowed the archbishop copy approval of the biography, "Rowan Williams: An Introduction," said Williams' personal view has not changed.

　　"His private view remains that an adjustment of teaching on sexuality would not be different from the kind of flexibility now being shown to divorcees who wish to remarry, or the softening in the 16th century of the church's once total opposition to borrowing with interest, or the 19th and 20th century shifts of view on subjects like slavery and eternal hellfire," Shortt wrote.