The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, yesterday launched the official programme for the Lambeth Conference 2008.

Dr Williams was joined for the launch by the Archbishop of Melanesia and Chairman of the Design Group, the Most Rev Ellison Pogo, and the Archbishop of the Province of the Indian Ocean, the Most Rev Ian Ernest, as well as 30 bishops, at a press conference at Lambeth Palace in central London.

He said that 70 per cent of Anglican bishops around the world, or around 600, had already registered their attendance at the ten-yearly gathering to take place in Kent this summer.

The remainder of the invited bishops has yet to confirm their attendance, some as a result of hostilities over the issue of homosexuality. A number of conservative bishops have announced plans to hold a separate conference in Jerusalem in the weeks running up to the Lambeth Conference.

On Monday however, Dr Williams affirmed, "In spite of the painful controversies which have clouded the life of the Communion for the last few years, there remains, as many people have repeatedly said, a very strong loyalty to each other and a desire to stay together."

He pointed to the breadth of development work that is uniting Anglican Churches around the world across their regional boundaries, through Mothers' Union and a number of other church-based development projects tackling HIV and Aids, and furthering education.

"These close and personal relationships, which are not often in the headlines because they simply carry on doing the work they set out to do, are part of the solid ground that helps us cope with the turbulence in other areas," said Dr Williams.

Over three weeks, the bishops will work their way through 'The Equipping Bishops for Mission' programme, which will focus on "strengthening the sense of a shared Anglican identity among the bishops from around the world, and helping to equip bishops for the role they increasingly have as leaders in mission, involved in a whole variety of ways in helping the Church grow", the Archbishop said.

Part of that process will involve sessions on the draft Anglican Covenant, relations with other faiths and the environment.

Dr Williams' wife, Jane, will lead a separate conference for the bishops' spouses to run alongside the main Lambeth Conference.