Sentamu warns of 'cynical culture'

Dr John Sentamu said there had been a "corporate failure" by the Church which had become engaged in "endless debates" about matters which had little to do with the Christian faith.

He warned that Britain was in danger of falling into a culture of "illiberal secularism", which denied spiritual faith and which was producing a "very cynical" culture.

"The Church has not been very good at clearly spelling out what the message of Jesus is about," he told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme.

"We have been indulging into a lot of debates which I don't think really have much to do sometimes with the Christian faith."

Dr Sentamu denied his comments were intended as a criticism of the leadership of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams.

However, he acknowledged that one of his concerns was the debate over whether to ordain homosexual priests and bishops which is threatening to split the worldwide Anglican Communion.

"It is a corporate failure of the Church, not actually doing the ministry of Jesus Christ out in the world. All of us as members of the body of Christ need to do more," he said.

"What we should be about is telling people that God in Jesus has come in a human form, died, rose again and his presence, in terms of the spirit, actually transforms lives."

Dr Sentamu described the fall in of average attendances at church services as "worrying", and warned that the decline of traditional faith was having a damaging effect on society.