Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, the first female leader of the US Episcopal Church, has further extended the rift in the Anglican Communion by controversially defending homosexuality; announcing her personal belief that it is not a sin.

Elected this week as the head of the 2.3 million member church, the 52-year-old Bishop told reporters that she felt homosexuals were created by God to love people of the same sex. The comments are sure to send shock waves across the worldwide Anglican Communion.

She told CNN, “I believe that God creates us with different gifts. Each one of us comes into this world with a different collection of things that challenge us and things that give us joy and allow us to bless the world around us.

"Some people come into this world with affections ordered toward other people of the same gender and some people come into this world with affections directed at people of the other gender."