The Revd Paul Matthew Washington, rector of North Philadelphia's Church of the Advocate for 25 years, died Monday of heart failure in Philadelphia at the age of 81.

Under his leadership, the Church of the Advocate hosted meetings of the Black Panthers and other groups; fought against racial discrimination, police brutality and the Vietnam War; pushed for open housing; and lobbied for civil rights for lesbians and gays. Fr Washington also helped build and later taught for six years at Cuttington College in Liberia in the 60s.

In 1969, Fr Washington led a walkout of black clergy from General Convention in South Bend, Indiana, over the issue of reparations for the sufferings of Africans during the slave trade. In 1974, he opened his church for the unauthorised ordination of 11 women, now referred to as the "Philadelphia Eleven." He later preached at the historic consecration of one of his parishioners, Barbara C Harris, as bishop suffragan of the Diocese of Massachusetts - the first woman bishop in the Anglican Communion.

In 1980, Fr Washington joined a group of Americans who defied a US travel ban and attended a conference in Iran while that country was holding 53 Americans hostage in the US Embassy in Tehran.

"When I saw my people hungry, cold, homeless, oppressed, brutalised and exploited, I knew it was God telling me to do something about it," he said in a sermon.

Article excerpted from a Episcopal News Service release by the Revd Jan Nunley.