About 10 men and women from Outrage, an extremist gay and lesbian activist group, scaled the walls of Lambeth Palace on Sunday (April 20) to disrupt a photocall being held in the palace gardens. The Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Revd George L. Carey, was escorting dozens of bishops and other church leaders around the grounds at a press photocall for the St Augustine's Seminar, the preparatory meeting for the Lambeth Conference 1998. The extremists ran in front of the cameras, pushing, shouting and waving placards in the front of the Archbishop, making negative accusations about the church's relationship with the gay community. One staff member of the Anglican Communion Office of Communication was thrown to the ground as he attempted to protect Mrs Carey.

The Archbishop asked the intruders to leave but they persisted for at least ten minutes in their shouting. Some members of the international group of church leaders were stunned by the invasion from the large garden area. "They appeared from nowhere," said Jim Rosenthal, Communications Officer, "it appears they were hiding in the bushes". Some felt the outburst would harm the discussion on homosexuality in the church. One priest said, "If we were to vote today, after this incident, I am afraid the answer would be no!"

The incident coincided with the showing on Sunday of the final segment of a TV series called "Archbishop" in which the Archbishop expressed the Church of England's position on sexuality and the clergy. The Archbishop of York, the Most Revd David Hope, is also featured in the TV series retelling the story of Outrage's attempts to intimidate him regarding his personal life in 1995.

A spokesman for Lambeth Palace said: "The Archbishop's view is that this sort of illegal and disruptive behaviour is unacceptable and does not make a significant contribution to this or any other debate."

Among those attending the St Augustine's Seminar in London, along with the two English archbishops, are: The Rt Revd Victoria Matthews, Bishop of Edmonton, Canada; the Most Revd Keith Rayner, Archbishop of Melbourne and Primate of Austrlia; the Rt Revd Roger Herft, Bishop of Newscastle, Australia; The Rt Revd Michael Nazir Ali of Rochester, UK and the Most Revd Njongonkulu Ndugane, Archbishop of Cape Town.

The seminar continues through 30 April.