THE Bishop of Durham will sit on a commission set up to heal a rift that is threatening to split the Anglican Church.

With the first openly gay priest preparing for consecration at the weekend, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, included the Right Reverend Tom Wright yesterday in the names of those who will tackle a growing crisis over homosexuality in the Church and determine its whole future.

However, the bishop has already openly declared himself hostile to the idea of gay clergy.

The row could come to a head on Sunday when Canon Gene Robinson, a homosexual who has a long-term male partner, is expected to become bishop of the US diocese of New Hampshire.

Bishop Wright, whose own consecration in Durham Cathedral took place less than three weeks ago, told The Northern Echo earlier this year that he would neither ordain homosexual priests nor those being unfaithful to their spouses and that his careful understanding of the scriptures was that homosexual activity among Christians was unacceptable.

He said: "In the early Church, all that the pagans knew about Christians was that they believed in the Resurrection and didn't sleep around.

"We need to remind ourselves of that and not capitulate to the morals of the street."

Last night he spoke of the Church's current torment. He said: "The world as a whole has for some while been in pain over issues of independence and interdependence between countries, continents and cultures. It's no surprise that the Church finds the same pain within its own life.

"I have already taken part in many discussions of related issues, at local and international level. I and my colleagues will be trying to find what is best for Anglicanism as a whole."

The commission will be chaired by the Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland Dr Robin Eames.

It includes conservative and liberal figures within the Anglican Communion and will start work in the New Year, with a deadline of reporting to Dr Williams by the end of September.

It will also examine the authorisation of same-sex blessings in the Diocese of New Westminster, Canada.

Dr Williams said the commission's main task would be to offer advice on finding a way through the situation.

He said: "The primates were clear that the Anglican Communion could be approaching a crucial and critical point in its life.

"This commission, under the communion's longest-serving primate, is intended to contribute to our finding a way forward."