THE former Archbishop of Canterbury, Lord Runcie, has condemned the author of a new biography of him for breaking an understanding that it would not be published in his lifetime.
Lord Runcie (74) invited the author, Humphrey Carpenter, to be his official biographer in 1991, shortly before he retired from the highest position in the Church of England.
He is now accusing the author of producing a "highly misleading" account of "very private conversations" during which he discussed the influence of homosexuality among Church of England clergy.
Lord Runcie is quoted in the book speaking extensively about his fears of homosexuality in the Church of England and of his relationship with the Rev Gareth Bennett, an academic theologian who committed suicide in 1987 following a row over his anonymous criticism of the archbishop in the preface to Cmckford's Clerical Directory.
Lord Runcie maintains that he wrote to the author in 1991, saying: "I am not looking for a biography that has to come out in my lifetime. Maybe it would be better not. Anyway, nothing in the next five years." He says he did not intend for the hours of tape recorded conversations with Mr Carpenter to be used verbatim.
The biography quotes Lord Runcie as saying that, although firmly heterosexual, he has enjoyed the company of homosexuals, "but I've always been conscious that they might stab me in the back because I wasn't one of them.
At the weekend Lord Runcie, who was Archbishop of Canterbury for 11 years, described the biography as a "highly misleading" attempt at presenting a "comprehensive account" of his life, ministry or considered opinions on people and events during his term of office and accused Mr Carpenter of breaking an understanding that the book would not he published during his lifetime.
In another letter written to the author and used as a postscript to the hook, Lord Runcie said: "I have done my best to die before this hook is published. It now seems possible that I may not succeed."
Mr Carpenter insisted yesterday that he had not entered into an agreement with the former archbishop to publish the book after Lord Runcie's death. He produced his own evidence when he quoted from a letter written in January 1991, in which Lord Runcie wrote that it would be "better not" to publish the book "in the next five years".
Speaking during an interview for BBC Radio 4's Sunday programme, Mr Carpenter said he agreed the original direction of the biography had been somewhat lost during the writing process and he had failed to inform Lord Runcie of his intentions.
However, Mr Carpenter defended his description of Lord Runcie as a man "too lacking in confidence to write his own sermons", saying he felt he had not betrayed him in adhering only to the letter of Lord Runcie's request to delay publication.
During the drafting of the book, Mr Carpenter said he and Lord Runcie had "been through the text with him sitting next to me and I took out lots of bits he didn't like. It was a spirited collaboration."
A spokesman for the Church of England, Mr Eric Shegog, said the issue was a "private matter between two individuals".
He added that Lord Runcie, who is abroad, considered the taped conversations with Mr Carpenter as the background and not the basis of the biography and that while he did not expect the hook to be uncritical he had hoped it would not simply duplicate previous personal profiles. Mr Shegog said Lord Runcie believed his official biography "still remains to be written."