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Britain

Archbishop of Canterbury: wearing a cross does not offend non-Christians

2012-03-16

The ArchDruid Archbishop of Canterbury has spoken in support of wearing the cross saying that it does not offend non-Christians on the day he announced he was stepping down. Don't go Rowan, you are a cornucopia of mirth to the plebs. But what did the non-Christians say? Isn't that more important? In a candid interview Dr Rowan Williams said he did not believe that Christianity was losing the battle against secularisation in Britain but said that the arguments were being clouded by 'dim-witted prejudice.' "What I think slightly shadows the whole thing is this sense that there are an awful lot of people now of a certain generation who don't really know how religion works, let alone Christianity in particular, and that leads to confusions, sensitivities in the wrong areas - 'does wearing a cross offend people who have no faith or non-Christians?' well I don't think it does. Isn't the job of the clergy to, you know, educate people about how religion works? Seems like the evangelicals, the missionaries, and the papists understand this a little better than you... "But people worry that it will. That is partly because there is a slight tone deafness about how religious belief works. "I think there is also a lot of ignorance and rather dim-witted prejudice about the visible manifestations of Christianity, which sometimes clouds the discussion." Dr Williams, 61, will leave at the end of December to take up a new role as Master of Magdalene College, Cambridge next January. The Queen, Supreme Governor of the Church of England, has been informed.

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Britain

ArchDruid to retire early

2011-09-11

The Archbishop of Canterbury is planning to resign next year, nearly a decade before he is due to step down, it can be revealed. Oh thank goodness. Any chance the next one will actually believe in God? Hoping that he is a Christian, and even an Anglican, is probably too much to ask for the chief prelate of the Church of England. Dr Rowan Williams is understood to have told friends he is ready to quit the highest office in the Church of England to pursue a life in academia. The news will trigger intense plotting behind the scenes over who should succeed the 61-year-old archbishop, who is not required to retire until he is 70. Bishops have privately been arguing for Dr Williams to stand down, with the Rt Rev Richard Chartres, the Bishop of London, telling clergy he should give someone else a chance after nearly ten years in the post. Lambeth Palace would not be drawn into confirming or denying whether the archbishop will be leaving next year. Sources close to the archbishop say he will leave after the Queen's Diamond Jubilee next June and having seen the Church finally pass legislation to allow women to become bishops. It is understood that Trinity College, Cambridge, is preparing to create a professorship for Dr Williams, who studied theology and was a chaplain at the university.

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Olde Tyme Religion

Traditionalist Anglican bishops in secret talks with Vatican

2010-05-02

In a move likely to raise tensions between the two Churches, a group of Church of England bishops met last week with advisers of Pope Benedict XVI to set in motion steps that would allow priests to convert to Catholicism en masse. They are set to resign their orders in opposition to the introduction of women bishops and to lead an exodus of Anglican clerics to the Catholic Church despite Dr Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, urging them not to leave. It would be the first time for nearly 20 years that large numbers of priests have crossed from the Church of England to Rome, and comes only weeks ahead of a crucial General Synod debate on making women bishops. The Sunday Telegraph has learnt that bishops travelled to the Holy See last week to hold face to face discussions with senior members of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the most powerful of the Vatican's departments. The Rt Rev John Broadhurst, the Rt Rev Keith Newton and the Rt Rev Andrew Burnham, the bishops of Fulham, Richborough and Ebbsfleet respectively, are understood to have informed senior Catholic officials that Church of England clergy are keen to defect to Rome. Defect? From what, the Gulag? It is the first significant response to the Papal offer made last year, which opened the doors for Anglicans to convert while retaining key elements of their tradition. The Most Rev Vincent Nichols, the Archbishop of Westminster, was unaware of the summit, which is likely to prove embarrassing to the Catholic Church ahead of the Pope's visit to Britain later this year as it will rekindle fears that it is trying to poach Anglican clergy. Poach? One source close to last week's discussions said that the Anglican bishops raised concerns with the Vatican officials that there is opposition to them defecting from Catholic bishops in England. Defecting? Nevertheless, they made clear they have become so disillusioned with the Church's liberal direction that they are keen to accept the Pope's offer if they can finalise plans to implement it.

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Britain

Williams forced to recant criticism of Irish Catholics

2010-04-05

An extraordinary war of words between the Catholic and Protestant churches culminated yesterday in the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, apologising for remarks that are not due to be broadcast until tomorrow. That just has to be a record, he's apologizing before he's said anything ... Catholics in Ireland reacted furiously to comments made by Dr Williams in a pre-recorded interview -- but released by the BBC -- in which he said that the Catholic Church in Ireland had lost "all credibility" over the way it dealt with paedophile priests. Within hours, however -- but not before the Archbishop of Dublin, Diarmuid Martin, said he was "stunned" by the remarks -- Dr Williams issued an apology, saying he had "no intention of criticising or attacking" the Catholic Church. Stepped in it big time, didn't he ... What did he think he was doing, if he didn't intend what he actually did? That's as bad as the pro forma "I'm sorry if I offended anyone" when it blindingly clear that someone or group in particular was most definitely offended. Everyone says the man is so intelligent, when it's clear he's merely over-educated. The row overshadowed the most important festival in the Christian calendar, Easter Sunday, which marks the resurrection of Christ, and was threatening to derail the Pope's visit to Britain in September. I wasn't aware Easter could mark anything else, but perhaps the arch-druid could enlighten us ... Clearly you are not numbered among the over-educated. "The unequivocal and unqualified comment in a radio interview of the Archbishop of Canterbury that the Catholic Church in Ireland has 'lost all credibility' has stunned me," Archbishop Martin said. "I have been more than forthright in addressing the failures of the Catholic Church in Ireland. I still shudder when I consider the harm that was caused to abused children. But... I have rarely felt personally so discouraged as when I woke to hear Archbishop Williams's comments." His Church of Ireland counterpart, Dr John Neill, said he listened to the words with "deep regret". Catherine Pepinster, the editor of the Catholic newspaper The Tablet, said many Catholics would be surprised by Dr Williams's "intemperate" and "extreme" remarks. Surprised, no, not exactly, but furious ... Dr Williams is said to have telephoned Archbishop Martin to "express his deep sorrow and regret" over the remarks. The Archbishop of Canterbury has a track record for gaffes, and it is likely his latest comments will be considered another clanger. He's the Joe Biden of the Church of England. Says something about the current state of the senior hierarchy of the Church of England that they knowingly put such a person as head, not back-up.

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Britain

Armed Forces Bishop apologises for Taliban comments

2009-12-14

The Rt Rev Stephen Venner acknowledged that his comments in a Daily Telegraph interview appeared ''incredibly insensitive'' and stressed his support for British troops in Afghanistan. In the interview the bishop warned against demonising the Taliban and argued that the attitude towards insurgents in the conflict-ravaged country had been ''too simplistic''. He told The Daily Telegraph: ''There's a large number of things that the Taliban say and stand for which none of us in the West could approve, but simply to say therefore that everything they do is bad is not helping the situation. ''The Taliban can perhaps be admired for their conviction to their faith and their sense of loyalty to each other.'' One MP accused him of offering ''comfort and succour to our enemies'' with his remarks. Bob Russell, Liberal Democrat member for the garrison town of Colchester in Essex, said: ''Why did he not talk about the loyalty of our troops? ''The bishop would have been well advised to concentrate on boosting the morale of our armed forces rather than boosting the morale of our enemy.'' Bishop Venner later apologised for his comment, saying it was ''one small phrase in quite a long interview'' intended to suggest that not all members of the Taliban were ''equally evil''. He told the BBC: ''If that has caused offence, I am deeply grieved by it because that's the very last thing that I would want to do.'' The bishop also issued a statement condemning the Taliban's tactics and expressing his backing for UK forces. He said: ''The way that the Taliban are waging war in Afghanistan is evil, both in their use of indiscriminate killing and their terrorising of the civilian population. No religion could condone their actions. ''I give my full support to the British and allied troops who are engaged in the country, seeking to work with the Afghan government to bring stability, democracy and an enduring peace. ''I acknowledge that long-lasting peace will not be achieved without both defeating the Taliban militants and, over time, by encouraging them to forsake the path of war and to be involved in the future of Afghanistan. ''Senior military and civilian leaders have expressed similar views and I support their position. ''We have also to distinguish between the militant Taliban and those of their number who are fighting because they have been coerced into doing so and who fear for their lives if they do not. Clearly, it is only those who reject military action with whom we could talk.'' Bishop Venner was recently commissioned in his new role by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams.

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Home Front: Culture Wars

Episcopalians Force Schism With Anglicans By Choosing Lesbian Bishop

2009-12-06

The worldwide Anglican Church has been plunged into a fresh crisis after a lesbian was chosen as its second gay bishop. In a move that will dismay the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, Canon Mary Glasspool was elected as an assistant bishop for the diocese of Los Angeles. Why would that dismay the good archbishop? One would think he, of all people, would approve. It might not be in accord with the Druid gospels ... The Rev Rod Thomas, the leader of the conservative evangelical group Reform and a member of the General Synod, said: 'I feel deeply ashamed that this is happening in the Anglican Church. 'I But St Paul's Cathedral's Canon Chancellor Giles Fraser, a leading liberal, said: 'This is another nail in the coffin of Christian homophobia.' think a schism is absolutely inevitable.' But St Paul's Cathedral's Canon Chancellor Giles Fraser, a leading liberal, said: 'This is another nail in the coffin of Christian homophobia.' It's another nail in the coffin of something Canon Glasspool, 55, has openly stated that she has lived with her partner, Becki Sander, since 1988. American Gene Robinson became the first gay Anglican bishop in 2003. "God's light and God's life ooze over me like warm butter." -- icky quote by Gay Episcopal Bishop Gene Robinson

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Britain

Archbishop of Canterbury claims higher taxes would be good for society

2009-11-17

Dr Rowan Williams said that taxation should not be seen as a way of stifling business or redistributing wealth but helping to make the world a better place in which to live. Spoken like a man who doesn't pay any ... He called for new levies to be introduced on financial transactions and carbon emissions, and an end to the idea that unlimited economic growth is desirable. Let's not work to help the poor, just to impoverish the wealthy and middle-class so as to make everyone 'equal'. Is that Leviticus or Acts of the Apostles? Aye, 'tis a problem beyond the ken o' the likes of us! We must ask the vicar! He'll know! The archbishop also claimed reality television gives us "alarming glimpses" of what the world would look like were everyone to be governed by self-interest. That bit is true, but unconnected to his main point. Dr Williams, the most senior cleric in the Church of England and a self-confessed "hairy lefty", has made a series of critical statements since last year's banking crisis on the excesses of the financial sector and Labour's attempt to spend its way out of recession. Few of his statements, from what I've seen have made any sense. Those that have made sense have involved dinner. Poor Christopher Johnson's becoming incoherent just trying to keep up with the vagaries of Anglican self-destruction. In his latest comments, delivered to the TUC Economics Conference on Monday, he pointed out that the term "economics" derives from a Greek word meaning "housekeeping" and should be about "creating a habitat that we can actually live in". So when is the Anglican church selling its treasures to help the poor? Don't be silly. They're holding that as a sacred trust. He's talking about a world that's comfortable for vicars and hospitable to hairy lefties. However he said that over the past few decades, the market has been treated as an "independent authority", creating social disruption around the world and the "extraordinary phenomena" of debt trading. Dr Williams claimed that the "fantasies of unlimited growth" had led to a "vicious cycle" in which consumers are encouraged to buy more goods, which also uses up limited energy and raw materials. Instead, he said the economy should be geared towards creating a secure and sustainable environment for families. Let 'em stay poor, that way they'll flock to the church and turn over their few coins in the plate. He prefers quaint country folk who tug the forelock as they pass the vicar... As part of this, the archbishop said: "We have to ask about 'green taxes' (including 'green' tax breaks) that will check environmental irresponsibility and build up resources to address the ecological crises that menace us. So that everyone can be green. And poor. Except for the bishops. "It is of course connected with other proposals about currency exchange taxation -- the 'Tobin tax' idea: the point is that we should be thinking about taxation neither as an unreasonable burden on enterprise nor as a simple mechanism of redistribution but as a potentially sophisticated tool for long-term 'economy' -- housekeeping. "Taxation builds a habitat -- already, quite properly, through state welfare provision, but potentially in other less familiar ways." Spoken like a man who understand the need to reach into the till. Moving on to describe a "human life well-lived", Dr Williams said: "If you live in a world where everything encourages you to struggle for your own individual interest and success, you are being encouraged to ignore the reality of other points of view -- ultimately, to ignore the cost or the pain of others. "The result may be a world where people are very articulate about their own feelings and pretty illiterate about how they impact on or appear to others -- a world of which 'reality television' gives us some alarming glimpses." Not like the life of a holy man, lived close to the common folk, empathizing with them, feeling their pain, sharing their triumphs, if any... He admitted it is not necessary to believe "Christian doctrine" in order to develop a "three-dimensional humanity", "Certainly not! Why, the Mohammedans have values just as valid as ours, and likely more valid!" but added: "Politics left to managers and economics left to brokers add up to a recipe for social and environmental chaos. Yup, no need to believe in a Christian doctrine. Heck, the archbishop doesn't, so why should you? "We are all a bit shy, understandably so, of making too much of moral commitment in public discourse; we are wary of high-sounding hypocrisy and conscious of the unavoidable plurality of convictions that will exist in a modern society. Yet the truth is that the economic and social order isn't a self-contained affair, separate from actual human decisions about what is good and desirable."

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Britain

Senior Anglican Bishop May Convert To RC

2009-10-24

Bishop Hind said he would be "happy" to be reordained as a Catholic priest and said that divisions in Anglicanism could make it impossible to stay in the church. He is the most senior Anglican to admit that he is prepared to accept the offer from the Pope, who shocked the Church of England last week when he paved the way for clergy to convert to Catholicism in large numbers. In a further blow to the Archbishop of Canterbury's hopes of preventing the Anglican Communion from disintegrating, other bishops have cast doubt over its survival. The Rt Rev John Broadhurst, the Bishop of Fulham, even claimed that "the Anglican experiment is over". He said it has been shown to be powerless to cope with the crises over gays and women bishops. In one of the most significant developments since the Reformation, the Pope last week announced that a new structure would be set up to allow disaffected Anglicans to enter full communion with Rome, while maintaining parts of their Protestant heritage. The move comes after secret talks between the Vatican and a group of senior Anglican bishops. Dr Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, was not informed of the meetings and his advisers even denied that they had taken place when the Sunday Telegraph broke the story last year. Now Bishop Hind, the most senior traditionalist in the Church of England, has confirmed that he is willing to sacrifice his salary and palace residence to defect to the Catholic Church. "This is a remarkable new step from the Vatican," he said. "At long last there are some choices for Catholics in the Church of England. I'd be happy to be reordained into the Catholic Church." While the bishop stressed that this would depend on his previous ministry being recognised, he said that the divisions in the Anglican Communion could make it impossible to stay. "How can the Church exist if bishops are not in full communion with each other," he said. Conservative archbishops and bishops have broken ties with their liberal counterparts following the US Episcopal Church's consecration of Gene Robinson, the first openly gay bishop. Bishop Broadhurst said that the Pope has made his offer in response to the pleas of Anglicans who despair at the disintegration of their Church. "Anglicanism has become a joke because it has singularly failed to deal with any of its contentious issues," said the bishop, who is chairman of Forward in Faith, the Anglo-Catholic network that represents around 1,000 traditionalist priests. "There is widespread dissent across the [Anglican] Communion. We are divided in major ways on major issues and the Communion has unravelled. I believed in the Church I joined, but it has been revealed to have no doctrine of its own. "I personally think it has gone past the point of no return. The Anglican experiment is over." The Rt Rev Martyn Jarrett, the Bishop of Beverley, also said there were questions over the church's survival, adding that the Church of England has changed too dramatically for some traditionalists. "They are beginning to reflect that the theological position of the Church isn't what they believe," he said. "The offer from the Vatican is momentous and I felt a great sense of gratitude that the Roman Catholic Church is thinking about the position of traditionalist Anglicans." Clergy at the Forward in Faith conference, which met in Westminster yesterday, expressed relief that the Pope had provided them with an escape route. Fr Ed Tomlinson, vicar of St Barnabas, Tunbridge Wells, said that he would be following the lead of Bishop Hind. "The ship of Anglicanism seems to be going down," he said. "We should be grateful that a lifeboat has been sent. I shall be seeking to move to Rome. To stay in the Church of England would be suicide." Hundreds of traditionalist clergy could join the exodus, though most are waiting for the exact details of the new apostolic constitution to be published. Battles lie ahead over whether priests who leave to join the Catholic Church will be allowed to take their churches with them, but some bishops have already warned against property seizure. Dr Williams was only informed of the details of the Pope's decree last weekend and is understood to have been "implacably opposed" to the move. Lord Carey, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, said he was "appalled" that his successor was given such short notice and was excluded from discussions on the issue. The Rt Rev Gregory Cameron, Bishop of St Asaph and a close colleague of Dr Williams, said that the archbishop was likely to be saddened by the developments. "Rowan has worked very hard for unity both within the Anglican Communion, and with Rome, and I suspect he may feel that what has happened is little short of a betrayal, not by the Catholic Church, but by some of those in his own ranks." "He is likely to be saddened that they felt driven to seek such a radical solution and that some of them now feel they have to go. Up until now, the Roman Catholic Church has been putting its weight behind Rowan, but now it is appearing to put its weight behind the conservative groups it can most easily win over." "The danger is that they'll have every disaffected Anglican beating down the pathway to their door and asking for special treatment." The Sunday Telegraph can disclose that the planning behind last week's announcement began in 2006, when the Pope asked the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith to consider how they could invite Anglicans into the Roman Catholic fold. He had reached out to disillusioned Anglicans three years earlier, when as head of the Congregation, the most powerful of the Vatican's departments and successor to the medieval Inquisition, he wrote a personal letter to Anglicans in America. He reassured them of the Catholic Church's support of their stand against the liberal tide.

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Olde Tyme Religion

If our Archbishop spent less time fretting about climate change, he might notice the pope is about to mug him

2009-10-23

Can the Church of England be doomed? Would it matter if it were? Would anybody notice? These questions are prompted by the news that Pope Benedict XVI is attempting to persuade Anglican clergy and even entire parishes to defect en masse to the Roman Catholic Church. Good Lord! It's a Papist plot! This is a manoeuvre which, according to one's point of view, could be described as audacious, unfriendly and even predatory. Or just picking up somebody else's pieces... The Pope looks at our national Church and sees an increasingly fragmented institution, some of whose clergy and laity are longing for strong and decisive leadership. Or any leadership at all... So he turns poacher. Poachers set traps and snares or go creeping through the woods with guns. All the Pope seems to be doing is whispering "here, priesty-priesty!" in a Christiany kind of voice... When I am completely senile, my brain turned to mush and dribbling out my ears, that image will be the last thing I still remember. Watch for the esteemed Archbishop to push for outlawing incense, candles and lace on vestments. It's coming ... along with a court determination that 'Thee' is hate speech. Since the Pope regards the Roman Catholic Church as the one true Church, and does not even acknowledge the validity of Anglican orders, I suppose we should not be too surprised by what he has done, though it is difficult to imagine his predecessor, Pope John Paul II, making an open overture of this sort. The interesting question is why Pope Benedict should feel emboldened to so. I've heard of Anglican priests who've gone over to the Papists, some of them married -- the celibacy thing doesn't carry over if they've alrady got a wife. I don't think they even have to go through reprogramming. "High church" Anglicans are considered close enough to Catholics. I am afraid much of the explanation has to do with the leadership - or lack of it - of Dr Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury. While the Church of England had many problems before he was enthroned, and will continue to have them long after he has gone, it can't be denied that they have multiplied during his watch. I don't think it's a given that there will be a Church of England after he's gone. He might well be the Romulus Augustulus of the church. Unsurprisingly, he appears to have been caught off-guard by the Pope's machinations. "Whut? Whut? Sorry! I wuz havin' a nap! Whuddya say?" Any Primate would admittedly have experienced difficulties in his position. He has tried in vain to bridge the gap between those who favour homosexual priests and those who abhor the idea. Right. What's it say in the Book? A sizeable minority of Anglican clergy dislike the prospect of women becoming bishops, and these are the people in particular whom the Pope hopes to lure to Rome. As the Church of England becomes more womanly its more manly members look for something a little more testicular... And it must also be granted, in Dr Williams's partial defence, that no Archbishop of Canterbury is in the position of a Pope, who is able to issue encyclicals and can generally command at least public obedience among Catholics. On the other hand, you'd think that as head of a major denomination he'd spend a bit more time reading up on religious precedents and taking a firm stand here and there. He doesn't have to do it on every issue, but since he does it on not much of anything people do tend to notice. Many of the same people then look for something a little more substantial. The Primate of the Anglican Church is merely primus inter pares, So's the Pope, in theory... and is supposed to take into account the views of other bishops, clergy and even laity. The Queen (and by extension the Prime Minister and the Cabinet) is nominally head of the Church of England, not he. The Queen, the PM, and the Cabinet dont' spend a lot of time debating matters religious, nor are they trained to do so... Still, when these points have been duly noted, Dr Williams has not been an impressive Archbishop. A reputedly brilliant academic, he has never served as an ordinary parish priest. I have no idea whether he's a "brilliant academic." He doesn't appear to be even a mediocre theologian, and as a leader he's squat. You can't lead if you don't know where you're going. Oh he knows where he's going, alright. He just isn't good at getting the unwashed - or rather, the seriously baptized - to follow. Unlike some very clever men, he is no good at simplifying complex theological issues for people less clever than himself, which is to say almost all of us. Who told you he was brilliant? Polysyllables don't make a genius, and they might even cover up a dullard. Senator John F. Kerry comes to mind, as does former Vice President Al Gore of blessed memory. Indeed, it is quite possible for moderately intelligent people to listen to the Archbishop preach a sermon or deliver a lecture on theological matters and not be at all sure what he is on about. Maybe there's no point to what he's saying? Maybe it's mush? Somehow people were able to make out what Calvin was saying, or Wesley. For that matter, the Pope somehow seems to get his message across. So here we have an inarticulate fellow with diabolical eyebrows who sometimes wears a funny hat and other times consorts with druids. You sure he's a genius? Well, he managed to get Bishop Nazir-Ali to resign and thereby lose a prime pulpit from which to warn about militant Islam. That's some sort of genius, I suppose. Paradoxically, he is capable of being direct to the point of triteness when he feels moved - as he often does - to discourse on secular matters. Y'mean when he's talking about things outside, sometimes far outside, his field? I'm always struck that he's holding the same seat Cranmer held. The thought kinda takes my breath away. Some will remember how not very long ago he incautiously suggested during a radio interview that officially sanctioned Sharia courts might be allowable for Muslims in this country. It did not help that in a subsequent lecture this statement was hedged about with caveats. The damage had been done. Seems like history's outside his field of expertise, doesn't it? The whole idea behind English law has been one set of laws for everybody. Far too often he sounds like a Guardian leader writer in full flood rather than a divine. In other words he's a pedestrian intellect masquerading as somebody really, really smart? One of his pet subjects is global warming. Lemme see... That's in Galatians, right? Or is it in Isaiah? Psalms. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of darkness I will feel no evil, for You are with me See how cleverly that dovetails? And here I thought it was Revelations ... There may be nothing wrong with that - except that there are already many people, some of them rather more expert than he is, lecturing us about its supposed perils. Shouldn't an Archbishop of Canterbury offer us guidance on moral issues? You'd kinda think that, wouldn't you? In an interview only last week with The Times, Dr Williams suggested that it was 'unsustainable' to airfreight vegetables from Africa because of the effect of aircraft emissions on global warming. I imagine he believes that climate change threatens the integrity of our God-given world, and is therefore a moral issue. I'm still looking for the echoes of Thomas Aquinas here... The trouble is that thousands of poor Africans will be impoverished if we do not buy their produce. This is not a matter about which a sensible Archbishop should be emphatic. Cause, meet effect. I think the Church got it by way of the Greeks, who got it from the Hittites, who got it from the Assyrians, who got it from the Babylonians, who got it from the Sumerians, who invented the concept when Gilgamesh and Enkidu conked Humbaba with a rock and he died. It does indeed seem like the kind of non-connection this particular archbishop might make. A little erudition can be a dangerous thing in the wrong hands. My favourite example of an ill-judged incursion into the banal was his suggestion some years ago that motorists should drive more slowly in order to save the environment (not lest they kill or injure one another) and his demand for a 'strictly enforced' speed limit. "'e wuz goin' 58 miles an hour, yer honour!" "To the Tower wiv him!" Amusingly, Dr Williams's predecessor but one as Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Robert Runcie, was once fined for driving at nearly 100mph on the Stevenage by-pass when he was Bishop of St Albans. I hope he is not roasting in Dr Williams's version of Hell. Does Dr. Williams have a version of Hell? Has he ever said? There are already more than enough politicians and pundits telling us what we should, and should not, do in the way we live our secular lives. Surely the proper function of the senior Archbishop of the Established Church is to provide Christian guidance on profound moral questions, and to carry the flag for Christian values in an age in which science pretends it has all the answers. Yes, but taking a position on moral questions can be controversial. Look at all the people who haven't become Catholic! We don't want a rent-a-quote Archbishop popping up every day of the week. I understand, too, that senior clerics do not have a hotline to God, and may sometimes be themselves unsure as to the true Christian path. On the other hand you'd think they should spend a lot of time thinking on that very subject... Nonetheless, I long for an Archbishop of Canterbury who spares us his fashionable advice on the secular issues of the day, and tells us how we should respond as Christians to the moral challenges of our age. I can see that Dr Williams does not want to be divisive, and he probably fears that strong guidance, for example on assisted dying, might alienate some Anglicans who are instinctively in favour of it. They're the ones who won't become Catholics, so there'll likely still be a Church of England, until the last member assists the second last in shuffling off the mortal coil. But the Church of England is not a club intended to keep a diminishing band of members happy. If it is to justify its continued existence as our so-called national Church, it must speak to the whole nation - or at any rate the whole of England. In his moral timidity and preoccupation with fashionable secular issues, Dr Williams exemplifies the worst traits of the modern Church of England. He's talking about its similarity to lukewarm dishwater. You can't drink it and it's not even very good for washing dishes. And yet a Church which at a national level appears so shaky in its beliefs is sometimes remarkably strong in individual parishes. In my home-town of Oxford, for example, there are Anglican churches where it is difficult to find a seat on Sundays. I'm guessing they still use the Book of Common Prayer, though I could be mistaken... Young people in particular yearn for guidance. Some will become Muslim, some will become Catholic, and the remainder will become communists or Greens... Many of them are not satisfied with the secular pieties of our age. If they cannot find a home in the Church of England, some of them will turn to the Roman Catholic Church, where doubtless they will be welcomed with open arms. That's what I just said, only he left out the Muslims... But the Church of England is surely worth preserving, partly because it is so bound up with our history and even now has a special place in the English nation, and partly because of the beauty of its liturgy (even though the beauties of the Authorised Version and the 1662 prayer book have regrettably been largely set aside) and of its choral music. So much for the Book of Common Prayer... The choral music is still being sung by secular choirs with demanding directors, precisely because of the beauty of the compositions. No worries there, any more than that Mozart's Requiem will be lost to the memory of Man. Both trailing daughters have recently sung various traditional C.of E. pieces in various choruses, here in the middle of the American Midwest. Dr Williams's polite, but firm, response to Pope Benedict should be to lay off our Church. 'Our' church? You mean 'we of the secular pieties'? We who are hollow souled, don't attend, don't believe and are content to let the government subsidize old buildings because they make us feel somehow connected to the past and the doctrine we disdain? That 'our'? Yet without strong, determined and inspired leadership the Church of England may continue to disintegrate. Its various factions must learn to respect authority. Brilliant though he may be, Rowan Williams, miscast academic that he is, will never be able to supply it.

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Britain

Michael Nazir-Ali steps down as Bishop of Rochester

2009-03-28

Although Dr Nazir-Ali has been in charge of the Rochester diocese for nearly 15 years, the decision to quit - which will see him leave his post later this year - has come as a surprise. The bishop is aged only 59 and potentially could have stayed in post for another decade. He was a leading contender to succeed George Carey as Archbishop of Canterbury, but has become increasingly outspoken at the direction of the Church since Dr Rowan Williams's appointment. A spokesman for the bishop said that he wants to turn his attention to working with the persecuted church. "Bishop Michael is hoping to work with a number of church leaders from areas where the church is under pressure, particularly in minority situations, who have asked him to assist them with education and training for their particular situation," he said. Dr Nazir-Ali, who became the Church's first Asian bishop when he was appointed to Rochester in 1994, has taken a strong stand against the rise of Islam in Britian. He warned last year that parts of the country have been turned into "no-go" areas for non-Muslims and challenged Dr Williams's claim that the introduction of sharia law is unavoidable. As a result of his warning, the bishop received death threats saying he would not "live long" and would be "sorted out" if he continued to criticise Islam.

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Britain

Boss Druid: Society is coming round to my views on sharia

2009-02-16

On the anniversary of the interview in which Dr Rowan Williams said it "seems inevitable" that some parts of sharia would be enshrined in this country's legal code, he claimed "a number of fairly senior people" now take the same view. He added that there is a "drift of understanding" towards what he was saying, and that the public sees the difference between letting Muslim courts decide divorces and wills, and allowing them to rule on criminal cases and impose harsh punishments. However critics insist that family disputes must be dealt with by civil law rather than according to religious principles, and claim the Archbishop's comments have only helped the case of extremists while making Muslim women worse off, because they do not have equal rights under Islamic law. The Archbishop, the most senior cleric in the Church of England, faced calls to resign last February when he said it was likely that elements of the religious principles based on the Koran, concerning marriage, finance and conflict resolution, would be enshrined in British legislation one day. But in July he was supported by Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers, who was then the Lord Chief Justice, while it later emerged that five sharia courts are already operating mediation systems under the Arbitration Act, and that the Government allows Islamic tribunals to settle the custody and financial affairs of divorcing couples and send their judgements to civil courts for approval. When asked at a recent conference of Anglican leaders in Egypt whether he feels he has been vindicated, Dr Williams replied: "It's been quite interesting to see how a number of fairly senior people have observed that certain kinds of limited aspects of Muslim law are imaginable within a British legal framework, without upsetting the apple cart of undermining human rights. People are maybe beginning to distinguish the general question of Muslim law, and the extremes of appalling practice which disfigure it in so many parts of the world or the extremes of trying to push Sharia law upon an entire society. So I think there is a drift of understanding of what I was trying to say, perhaps I like to think so." But Douglas Murray, the director of the Centre for Social Cohesion, said: "He has started a process which is deeply dangerous, damaging to Britain and to Muslim women in Britain. It was a wicked move because it undermines the progressives and gives succour to the extremists. How does the Archbishop of Canterbury know, sitting in Lambeth Palace, that a woman in Bolton has volunteered to give up half her inheritance to her brother?" Neil Addison, a barrister who specialises in religious discrimination cases, said: "I think the Archbishop has failed to give a justification for sharia law. What's the advantage it would bring to British Muslims and to British law? I believe his speech was deeply harmful to British Muslims because it helps the separation of them from the rest of society. What he was asking for was sharia dealing with wills and divorce, which are public areas of law, not private ones."

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Britain

Archdruid Rowan Williams on Economic Stimulus (See also "Stopped Clock Principle)

2008-12-21

The Archbishop of Canterbury has likened Gordon Brown's recovery plan for the economy to "an addict returning to a drug". Dr Rowan Williams, who only yesterday claimed he does not consider the reaction of politicians before speaking out, said he was worried about the Government's plan to spend its way out of recession. He also claimed the financial crisis could be good for society as it would provide a "reality check" to irresponsible spending and get-rich-quick schemes, and may encourage a return to volunteering and charity. Asked about the Prime Minister's "fiscal stimulus" package, which includes cutting VAT and increasing public borrowing, the Archbishop told Radio 4's Today programme: "I worry about that because it seems a little bit like the addict returning to the drug. When the Bible uses the word 'repentance', it doesn't just mean beating your breast, it means getting a new perspective, and that is perhaps what we are shrinking away from." "What I'm worried about is anything that pushes us straight back into the kind of spiral we were in before. It is about what is sustainable in the long term and if this is going to drive us back into the same spin, I do not think that is going to help us." He said people should not "spend to save the economy", but instead spend for "human reasons" such as providing for their own needs. Interesting. I'd have never thought he'd have the capacity to issue even this small serving of common sense, even with the required sprinkling of PC-speak about "sustainability"...

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