US Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama has criticised his preacher for racially charged rhetoric but said he could not disown the man who baptised his children and officiated at his wedding.
Mr Obama sought to quell controversy that ignited when attention was called to frequent sermons from the pulpit by the Rev Jeremiah Wright at Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, which the Illinois senator attended for two decades.
Rev Wright, who retired recently, has said that the 11 September attacks were retribution for US foreign policy, called the US government the source of the AIDS virus and expressed anger over what he called racist America.
'I can no more disown him than I can disown the black community,' Mr Obama said in a speech about race and politics in America.
Mr Obama said Rev Wright's remarks were not simply controversial but instead 'they expressed a profoundly distorted view of this country - a view that sees white racism as endemic.'
The Obama campaign is worried the uproar over the pastor's comments could cost him support with white voters in states like Pennsylvania, which holds an important voting contest on 22 April.
Mr Obama said: 'Did I know him to be an occasionally fierce critic of American domestic and foreign policy? Of course. Did I ever hear him make remarks that could be considered controversial while I sat in church? Yes. Did I strongly disagree with many of his political views? Absolutely.'
But he said the snippets of Rev Wright's sermons circulating on cable television and the Inernet in recent days do not tell the whole story about the man.
Mr Obama said: 'As imperfect as he may be, he has been like family to me. He strengthened my faith, officiated my wedding, and baptised my children.
'Not once in my conversations with him have I heard him talk about any ethnic group in derogatory terms, or treat whites with whom he interacted with anything but courtesy and respect.'
