Desmond Tutu has accused the church of being "obsessed" with homosexuality.
In a BBC radio programme to be broadcast on Tuesday, the Anglican archbishop emeritus said he felt ashamed of his own church for its attitude towards gay people.
The Nobel Peace Prize winner also criticised Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury and the leader of the world's Anglicans, for not demonstrating the attributes of a welcoming God.
"Our world is facing problems - poverty, HIV and Aids - a devastating pandemic, and conflict. God must be weeping looking at some of the atrocities that we commit against one another," he said.
"In the face of all of that, our church, especially the Anglican Church, at this time is almost obsessed with questions of human sexuality."
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He said the church had appeared "extraordinarily homophobic" during the row over whether openly gay priest Gene Robinson should be allowed to become the bishop of New Hampshire.
Tutu said he was saddened and ashamed of the church over the row.
Asked if he still felt ashamed, he replied: "If we are going to not welcome or invite people because of sexual orientation, yes. If God, as they say, is homophobic, I wouldn't worship that God."
Tutu hit out at those who believe homosexuality is a choice.
"It is a perversion if you say to me that a person chooses to be homosexual," he said. "You must be crazy to choose a way of life that exposes you to a kind of hatred. It's like saying you choose to be black in a race-infected society."
Criticising Williams, he said: "Why doesn't he demonstrate a particular attribute of God's, which is that God is a welcoming God?" - Sapa-AFP
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This article was originally published on page 3 of The Star on November 19, 2007
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