KAMPALA, Uganda — Archbishop Stanley Ntagali, the head Uganda’s Anglican Church of Uganda, said that gay bishops are a “spiritual cancer” and do not belong in the Church.

Ntagali, speaking at a press conference at his residence on Namirembe Hill on Tuesday, stated the the idea of having gay bishops is “unbiblical decision” and is “tearing apart” the Anglican faith.

“There were many attempts by the primates of the Anglican Communion to bring discipline to the American Church, but they were not implemented. And, so the spiritual cancer has spread,” he said. “It has infected the Anglican church in Canada, the Church of England, the Scottish Episcopal Church, the Church of Wales, and even the Anglican Church of Southern Africa.”

The archbishop said the Anglican Church is built on the doctrines of Biblical teaching that only recognize heterosexual relationships, rejecting the decision by England’s House of Bishops to ordain gay bishops, reported the Daily Monitor.

Ntagali, who has been appointed to his new role last year, said that he has reached out across Anglican leaders throughout East Africa and Nigeria to express a united opposition to the ordination of gay bishops at the Global Anglican Future Conference in Nairobi, Kenya at October.

Uganda’s proposed Anti-Homosexuality Bill, dubbed the “Kill the Gays” bill, aims to penalize “aggravated homosexuality” — consensual same-sex acts committed by “repeat offenders,” anyone who is in a position of power, is HIV-positive, or uses intoxicating agents i.e. alcohol in the process — with capital punishment.

The bill is now listed as number eight under “Business to Follow” for 2013.

Richard Lusimbo, of Sexual Minorities Uganda advocacy group told LGBTQ Nation: “Its so disheartening to hear a leader of a church taking a path of discrimination contrary what Christ himself taught.

“His speech is calculated to put pressure on Parliament of Uganda to tabling and vote in the Anti Homosexuality Bill,” said Lusimbo. “Clearly the new leader of Uganda’s Anglican Church is positioning himself in this statement and working together with the Evangelical lobby that has actively campaigned for, and helped authored the bill.”

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British human rights activist, Peter Tatchell, told LGBTQ Nation: “This is a continuation of the Church of Uganda’s long-time hostility towards gay clergy and LGBT people. Many of the Archbishop’s followers and colleagues stirred the homophobic witch-hunt that led to the Anti-Homosexuality Bill.”

“Ntagali claims to be a Christian, yet Jesus Christ never once condemned same-sex love. Homophobic discrimination, whether by the church or anyone else, is not a Christian value,” said Tatchell.