Rowan Williams, the archbishop of Canterbury, spoke with the Daily Telegraph about the harsh antigay bill pending in Uganda, calling the proposal “shocking” and an impediment to pastoral work.

Williams sat for an interview that was published on Saturday, at which point it appeared the proposed death penalties in the Ugandan bill might be withdrawn due to international criticism.

“Overall, the proposed legislation is of shocking severity and I can’t see how it could be supported by any Anglican who is committed to what the Communion has said in recent decades,” said Williams. “Apart from invoking the death penalty, it makes pastoral care impossible — it seeks to turn pastors into informers.”

Williams recently issued a rebuke to the Episcopal church, the branch of the Anglican communion in the United States, upon the election of a lesbian bishop, Mary Glasspool, in the Los Angeles diocese.