The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, has written to the head of the Anglican Church of Uganda asking him to reject a new law making "aggravated homosexuality" punishable by death.

The Anti-Homosexuality Act 2023 was signed into law last month by Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni in a move that was welcomed by the head of the Anglican Church of Uganda, Archbishop Stephen Samuel Kaziimba Mugalu.

Archbishop Kaziimba said he was "grateful" for the new law, although he said he would prefer the death sentence to be replaced with life imprisonment.

In a statement, the Archbishop of Canterbury expressed "grief and dismay" at the Church of Uganda's support for the new laws and urged Archbishop Kaziimba to reconsider his endorsement.

Archbishop Welby said that his opposition was not about imposing Western values on Uganda Anglicans but that there was "no justification" for any Anglican province to support such legislation. 

"I make this public statement with sorrow, and with continuing prayers for reconciliation between our churches and across the Anglican Communion," Welby's statement reads.

"I am deeply aware of the history of colonial rule in Uganda, so heroically resisted by its people. But this is not about imposing Western values on our Ugandan Anglican sisters and brothers.

"It is about reminding them of the commitments we have made as Anglicans to treat every person with the care and respect they deserve as children of God." 

The statement adds that support for such legislation represents "a fundamental departure from our commitment to uphold the freedom and dignity of all people".

"There is no justification for any province of the Anglican Communion to support such laws: not in our resolutions, not in our teachings, and not in the Gospel we share," said Welby. 

His statement also calls on orthodox Anglican bodies, Gafcon and the Global South Fellowship of Anglicans, to make it "explicitly and publicly clear" that no Anglican province should support the criminalisation of LGBTQ people. 

The statement ends, "As disciples of Jesus Christ we are called to honour the image of God in every person, and I pray for Anglicans to be uncompromising and united in this calling."