Britain's Archbishop of Canterbury faced calls to resign today for suggesting that the introduction in Britain of some aspects of Islamic law was unavoidable.
Dr Rowan Williams, spiritual leader of the world's 77 million Anglicans, tried to quell the storm by denying he had called for sharia law to be introduced alongside British law.
In a BBC interview on Thursday, he referred to the use of sharia in some personal or domestic issues, much like orthodox Jews already have their own courts for some matters.
Asked if sharia needed to be applied in some cases for community cohesion, Rev Williams said: "It seems unavoidable."
His comments attracted a torrent of critical headlines yesterday and today they continued with the sensationalist Sunlaunching a campaign to remove him from office.
It printed a form for readers to make a "complaint of misconduct" against Rev Williams, who it said had destroyed his credibility and "given heart to Muslim terrorists".
Some bishops also criticised his remarks and several members of the Church of England's governing body, the general synod, called for his resignation.
"I don't think he is the right man for the job any longer ... At best it was politically inept and at worst it was sheer foolishness," general synod member Alison Ruoff told Sky News.
"Christians, particularly in Islamic countries who are being severely persecuted, are really incredibly upset."
However, she said there was no chance of a general synod meeting next week forcing him out.
Bishop of Rochester Michael Nazir-Ali was quoted by the Daily Telegraphsaying Islamic law would be "in tension" with fundamental aspects of Britain's legal system.
Newspapers quoted friends of the archbishop - who is already battling divisions within his church over gay priests - saying he was in shock at the hostile reaction.
A statement on the Archbishop of Canterbury's web site defended the comments. "The Archbishop made no proposals for sharia ... and certainly did not call for its introduction as some kind of parallel jurisdiction to the civil law," it said.
Sharia is the body of Islamic religious law based on the Koran, the words and actions of the Prophet Mohammad and his companions, and rulings of Islamic scholars. It covers issues including worship, commercial dealings, marriage and penal laws.
In his BBC interview, Dr Williams said some provisions of sharia were already recognised under British law and he noted that orthodox Jews are already allowed to use their own courts to settle some issues based on religious law.
At least 10 Islamic courts, dealing mainly with divorce or financial disputes, operate in Britain, news reports said. In the United States sharia has been applied locally in some court cases involving domestic issues such as child custody and inheritance.
Dr Williams said he was not endorsing the harsh punishments meted out in countries such as Saudi Arabia and Iran, where murderers and drug traffickers are publicly beheaded or hanged.
Some church leaders defended the Arhcbishop. Dean of Salisbury June Osborne described some of the reaction as "frenzied" and questioned the subject was "untouchable".
Dr Williams' comments were welcomed by some Muslim groups, but the government said it was out of the question that the principles of sharia could be used in British civil courts.
The issue of integrating Britain's 1.8 million Muslims has been widely debated since July 2005, when four British Islamists carried out suicide bombings on London's transport system, killing 52 people.