A FORMER aide to the Archbishop of York has claimed the Church of England figurehead is the victim of a smear campaign and “naked racism”.

Reverend Arun Arora, who was previously Dr John Sentamu’s media spokesman, made allegations on his blog that the Archbishop, one of the front-runners to become the next Archbishop of Canterbury, is being targeted by “anonymous whispering” and the “besmirching” of his name and background.

He claimed there was a “stark contrast” between the way Dr Sentamu has been portrayed compared with the treatment of other bishops. A national Sunday newspaper also reported today that two unnamed bishops referred to the Archbishop’s African roots in their criticism of him.

Dr Sentamu distanced himself from Reverend Arora’s comments, saying he had never experienced racism in the Church.

Re Arora said: “At its best, the besmirching of John Sentamu has revealed that strand of snobbery which views outsiders as lacking class, diplomacy or civility - in other words, ‘not one of us’.

“At worst, it has elicited the naked racism which still bubbles under the surface in our society, and which is exposed when a black man is in line to break the chains of history.”

Rev Arora was unavailable for further comment today. The Sunday Telegraph reported one bishop had made “unprompted” comments about “the African chief thing” in Dr Sentamu’s temperament when asked to appraise his credentials to be Archbishop of Canterbury, while another said his “African views and approach” could be a “problem” as well as an “asset”.

The Archbishop’s office said Dr Sentamu did not comment on such matters, but he wanted to “make it clear” he had never experienced “racist views from within the Church” and nobody involved in the Church had ever made comments such as those alleged to have been made by the two bishops to him before.

Dr Sentamu was installed as bookmakers’ favourite to become Archbishop of Canterbury when the incumbent, Dr Rowan Williams, announced he was standing down last month. However, the latest betting has him in third place behind the Bishops of Coventry and Norwich.

Shortly after his appointment as Archbishop of York, he revealed he had received racial hate mail, while police investigated racist e-mails sent to Dr Sentamu following his controversial comments on same-sex marriage earlier this year.

A Church of England spokesman said: "The blog from Arun Arora quoted in the Sunday Telegraph story is a month old and has already been widely quoted in a range of publications.

"There is a comprehensive process for selecting the next Archbishop of Canterbury, details of which are available online, and involves an extensive consultation process."

* The Archbishop and other church leaders led a York Minster service on Saturday to explore the Christian response to climate change on Saturday, followed by a series of workshops on the issue staged by organisations such as CAFOD and Christian Aid at York St John University.