The new head of the worldwide Anglican communion has warned that he will not appoint any Freemasons to senior positions in the Church of England.

Archbishop Rowan Williams said: "I have real misgivings about the compatibility of Masonry and Christian profession."

He questioned whether it was appropriate for Christian ministers to belong to "secret organisations" and expressed concern about the "spiritual content of Masonry".

The Archbishop's press officer, Sion Brynach, told The Sunday Business Post: "The Archbishop expressed his personal views in a private letter and his position is that there are difficulties in reconciling some of the expressions of belief and practice of Freemasonry with those of Christianity. He recognises, however, there is a variety of opinions within the Anglican Church."

That is certainly true. Dr Geoffrey Fisher, William's predecessor as Archbishop of Canterbury from 1945 to 1961, was grand chaplain for the United Grand Lodge of England.

Williams, who is Anglican Archbishop of Wales, will be confirmed as Archbishop of Canterbury at a ceremony in St Paul's Cathedral in London on Tuesday.

As the 104th successor of St Augustine, the 52-year-old Welshman will become the spiritual head of 70 million Anglicans worldwide, including 350,000 members of the Church of Ireland.

But the Archbishop's views on Masonry may not go down too well with the Church of Ireland, where a number of senior clerics are Masons. The head of the Church, Archbishop Robin Eames, is a former member of the Brotherhood.

A spokesman for the Church of Ireland first insisted that Eames was not a Mason, subsequently claiming: "He resigned from the Masons 30 to 40 years ago as a curate. This is very much a private matter."

But Michael Walker, grand secretary of the Freemasons in Ireland, told The Sunday Business Post: "Archbishop Eames resigned from his lodges -- he was a member of more than one lodge -- about the time he was appointed primate." That was in 1986.

Walker said he viewed Williams' statements "more in sorrow than in anger." He insisted that there was no incompatibility between Christianity and Freemasonry and pointed out that most of Ireland's 30,000 Freemasons were Christians.

"We are basically a fraternal organisation with a moral ethos," he said, "but Masons are required to profess belief in a God. I have known professed atheists to be turned down for membership."

Walker said the majority of Irish Masons were Presbyterians, though that church, which has 300,000 members in more than 560 congregations, officially disapproves of the Freemasons.

After an investigation in 1991, the church's doctrine committee reported: "While recognising that there is much that is positive and praiseworthy in Freemasonry, there are also matters which give us concern as Christians.

"The fact that the sacred books of other religions may be set alongside the bible -- the Authorised Version only -- on a lodge's `altar' seems to put a question mark over the unique authority of the Word of God in scripture for the Christian."

The Presbyterian general assembly subsequently passed a motion disapproving of communicant members of the Church being involved in Freemasonry.

Walker said that 50 to 60 per cent of applicants for Freemasonry in Dublin nowadays were Catholics, "although I think we have only one Roman Catholic priest in Ireland."

However, Catholics are forbidden to become Freemasons on pain of excommunication. The 1917 Code of Canon Law specifically outlawed Freemasonry.

The revised code does not make any specific reference to the Craft, but the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith stated in 1983: "The Church's negative position on Masonic associations remains unaltered, since their principles have always been regarded as irreconcilable with the Church's doctrine. Hence, joining them remains prohibited by the Church. Catholics enrolled in Masonic associations are involved in serious sin and may not approach Holy Communion."

Many chaplains of Irish lodges are Church of Ireland clergymen, and the organisation boasts "one or two" retired Church of Ireland Bishops among its members.

The Church of Ireland spokesman said Williams' position would not affect the Church of Ireland.

"The Church does not have a ruling on membership of the Freemasons," he said. "It is a private matter for each individual."

When Rowan Williams was named Archbishop of Canterbury, Robin Eames said the appointment would be greeted by colleagues with "delight and confidence".

That bonhomie presumably won't extend to the new leader's views on Freemasons.