THE Archbishop of Canterbury said he backed Zimbabwe's embattled Anglicans during a two-hour meeting with President Robert Mugabe on Monday.
The Anglican Church in Zimbabwe has been divided since breakaway bishop Nolbert Kunonga was excommunicated in 2007 for allegedly inciting violence in sermons supporting Mugabe's party. But Kunonga says he left the Anglican Church because of its position on same sex marriages.
"I came to Zimbabwe a few days ago with the hope of negotiating with the president the concerns facing the Anglican Church," Williams told reporters in brief remarks as he left the meeting.
He added: "I am standing in solidarity to show those concerns this afternoon and to show His Excellency a dossier of those concerns. He (Mugabe) expressed concern and said he will speak with Kunonga.
"Anglicans must be allowed to carry out their mission in peace."
Kunonga led demonstrations against Williams' visit on Sunday, saying the trip to Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe was a "crusade for gays".
"Rowan Williams erred by accepting homosexuality and that has broken up the Church all over," Kunonga said on Monday, a day after his supporters held demonstrations denouncing the Englishman.
"It's sad, they should repent, it needs Williams himself to repent. He is the one who has divided the Church.”
Williams said Kunonga's accusations are "fictitious" and a "distracting tactic to take people's attention from the real problem."
"The Anglican Church doesn't allow homosexuality, but places like the U.S. and Canada have a more relaxed atmosphere. But we regard homosexuals as human beings deserving of love," Williams said.
The Archbishop later met with Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai. He is scheduled to leave for Zambia on Tuesday.
Williams, the spiritual leader of the world's Anglicans, used a sermon on Sunday to denounce "godless" attacks by Kunonga’s followers against the Church faithful in Zimbabwe, where they have been chased from cathedrals, schools and orphanages.
With the help of the courts, Kunonga has seized all of the Anglican Church's property in Harare and laid claim to 3,800 properties in Zimbabwe and neighbouring countries.
The renegade bishop, who has praised Catholic Mugabe as a "true son of God", has also endorsed Mugabe’s condemnation of homosexuality.
Ahead of Monday’s meeting, Mugabe’s spokesman George Charamba said: “The President wants this man of God to clarify why his Anglican Church thinks homosexuality is good for us and why it should be prescribed for us.”
Mission ... Archbishop Williams arrives at State House on Monday to meet President Mugabe