In a speech that was conciliatory and well as tough, he said the crisis, triggered by the consecration of Anglicanism's first openly gay bishop, had caused "hurt, misunderstanding, rupture and damage".

"Part of the cost involved in the repercussions of recent events is that it has weakened, if not destroyed, the sense that we are actually talking the same language within the Anglican Communion," he said. "Not having a common language, a common frame of reference, has been one of the casualties of recent events and there is every indication that that is not going to get better in a hurry."

He added: "To put it as bluntly as I can, there are no clean breaks in the Body of Christ."

The debate in the Synod was designed to give moral support to the Archbishop and to the Windsor report, which he and fellow primates commissioned in an effort to avert schism.

The report, published in October, was highly critical of the liberal leadership of the American Episcopal Church for consecrating the Rt Rev Gene Robinson as Bishop of New Hampshire two years ago.

It urged liberals to express regret for their actions and to impose a moratorium on further gay consecrations and blessing of homosexual "marriages" - a call a number of American bishops are still resisting.

Conservatives in Africa and Asia have made clear that unless some form of discipline is imposed they may walk out and form a rival Church.

The Synod overwhelmingly passed a motion moved by the Bishop of Durham, the Rt. Rev. Tom Wright, backing Dr Williams and accepting the broad principles of the report.

Bishop Wright, who helped to compile the report, said the document was a call for action. "It is not like a group of friends studying a map a week before an expedition in the hills and discussing potential routes," he said.

"It is more like the urgent discussions, high in the crags with evening coming on, snow threatening, and two of the friends suffering frostbite, as to the best and quickest route back to the valley.

"Wrong choices could be disastrous, but to delay would be the worst choice of all."

Some speakers criticised the report for failing to reflect the perspective of gay and lesbian people. Stuart Emmason, from the Diocese of Manchester, described it as the "ultimate fudge", adding: "It seems to me profoundly un-Anglican."

The Synod later agreed to review the system of selecting suffragan bishops, cathedral deans, archdeacons and residentiary canons. Speakers said there needed to be more transparency in the process following the furore over the appointment as Bishop of Reading in 2003 of the gay cleric Dr Jeffrey John, who subsequently stepped down.

END