Welsh Primate to lead Anglican world
by James M Rosenthal and Matthew Davies
ACNS SPECIAL REPORT
Downing Street today announced that the Most Rev'd Rowan Williams, the
Archbishop of Wales and Bishop of Monmouth, is to succeed Dr George Carey as
104th Archbishop of Canterbury.
Rowan Williams, born in Swansea in 1950, has been one of the names often
mentioned as a possible successor to the Archbishop of Canterbury since the
retirement of Dr George Carey was announced in January this year. A
respected theologian, Dr Williams has written a number of books on the
history of theology and spirituality and has been involved in various
commissions on theological education, both in his province and beyond. He is
the author of many well-known books including the recently published Love’s
Redeeming Work (Oxford). He was elected a Fellow of the British Academy in
1990 and is Chairman of the Trialogue Conference, which brings together
professionals from the worlds of Spirituality, Psychotherapy and Literature.
Dr Williams was elected Bishop of Monmouth in 1991 and enthroned as
Archbishop of Wales in 2000. Since then he has gained enormous support for
his leadership and his handling of some of the more controversial decisions
facing the Anglican Communion today.
Distinguished as being the only person to have been Professor of Divinity at
both Oxford and Cambridge Universities, Dr Williams is now the first
Archbishop of Canterbury to be selected from outside the Church of England
since the Reformation.
According to the Bishop's website he is "both a contemporary and rigorously
intellectual thinker, recently citing the cartoon 'The Simpsons' as an
example of humility and moral debate. He has attracted a lot of media
attention in relation to his radical views on both homosexuals in the church
and church/state relations."
In his Presidential address to the Church in Wales' Governing Body, the
Archbishop spoke from the perspective of one who was within a few hundred
yards of the World Trade Center in New York when the terrorist attacks took
place. He called on all to consider the nature of power and helplessness and
to remember that the only certainty is that "a faithful God holds us firmly
in life and death alike."
"No 'Star Wars' shield of missile defence could have averted last Tuesday's
atrocities. No intensive campaign to search and destroy in Afghanistan will
guarantee that it will never happen again. If we fear and loathe terrorism,
we have to think harder. Indiscriminate terror is the weapon of the weak,
not the strong; it's commonly what the 'strong' aren't expecting, which is
why they are vulnerable to it. It is the weapon of those who have nothing to
lose. If we want it not to happen, we have to be
continued
asking what it means that the world has so many people in it who believe
they have nothing to lose."
He also said, "Anger always blurs the real human features of those we're
angry with. Frustration requires that we don't allow ourselves to imagine
what it's like to be the other... The two fears, the two angers, don't
connect."
The address ends by his stressing the importance of faith in our
understanding and acceptance of death, "The Church is supposed to be a
community of people you'd be glad to die with…and if that is true about the
Church, then faith becomes the one wholly inflexible ground for resistance
to violence, precisely because it teaches us how to face death - not in
excited expectation of reward, but in the sober letting-go of our fantasies
in the sure hope that a faithful God hold us firmly in life and death alike.
Only if we are learning in this way how to die and to love, can anything we
say have any way in weight in a violent world."
News of his appointment to the historic See of Canterbury has brought a
plethora of responses and good wishes from around the Anglican Communion:
Speaking from Ireland, the Archbishop of Armagh, the Most Revd Robin Eames,
said, "I believe that Rowan Williams will bring to the leadership of the
Anglican Communion: scholarship; integrity; and sensitivity. His deep
spirituality will provide a firm foundation for the many diverse issues
which will confront us in the years to come. As senior primate I welcome him
to his new office and wish him God's richest blessings."
On hearing the news, the Most Revd Njongonkulu Ndungane, Archbishop of Cape
Town, said, "We thank God for the gift of a man who has great depth of
spirituality, an incisive mind and a pastoral heart. He makes Anglican
history as the first archbishop of Canterbury who comes from outside the
traditional ranks and it bodes well for the bonds of affection that bind our
global communion, as does his track record for leadership on issues of our
day."
The Presiding Bishop and Primate of the ECUSA, the Most Revd Frank T
Griswold, also issued a statement to ACNS, "I am very pleased with the
appointment of Rowan Williams to be the next Archbishop of Canterbury. He is
well known and highly respected across the Anglican Communion, in ecumenical
circles, and here in the United States. The combination of a keen mind and a
contemplative heart, together with an ability to relate classical Christian
tradition to the needs and struggles of our world, make him eminently
qualified to take up this important and challenging ministry of service."
Vice-Chairman of the Anglican Consultative Council, Presiding Bishop John C
Paterson, told ACNS, "I look forward to working with the new Archbishop, who
is already well known and highly respected in many parts of the Anglican
Communion for his scholarship, for his commitment to the service of our Lord
and for his already proven gifts of leadership in the Church. This is
undoubtedly the right appointment from the perspective of the Anglican
Communion at this critical time in its development."
The Rt Revd Leo Frade, Bishop of Southeast Florida, spoke of his personal
encounter with Dr Williams during the Lambeth Conference 1998. He said, "I
had the
continued
pleasure of meeting Archbishop Rowan Williams during Lambeth '98 as we dealt
with World Debt issues.
"I believe that he carries a vision that not only will be a blessing for the
church in the British Isles but for Anglicans in all continents of this
planet. I am assured that Archbishop Williams will be a voice that will
effectively and unashamedly proclaim the love and justice of our Lord Jesus
Christ and will make our church relevant in this new century."
Dean Ross Jones of St George's College, Jerusalem, told ACNS, "The Church in
Jerusalem is excited by the selection of Archbishop Rowan Williams as the
next Archbishop of Canterbury. God has provided the right man at the right
time. Thanks be to God!"
Clergy from the Church of England have responded warmly to the news of the
appointment. Father Philip Chester, St Matthew's, Westminster, London, home
of Affirming Catholicism, expressed great joy of the news. Fr Chester said,
"I warmly welcome the appointment of Dr Rowan Williams. His vision, holiness
and humility are the greatest encouragement to parish clergy who pray that
the Church of England will open its windows to the world and discover a new
spring time of God's grace."
"We are friends and Christian brothers, " said Archbishop Peter Akinola of
Nigeria speaking of the Archbishop-designate. "I wish him well. My hope is
that he will prove his detractors wrong. I respect him, he is a well learned
man of God and I look forward to sharing in his ministry for us all." the
archbishop concluded.
For photos see:
www.anglicancommunion.org/acns/special/abc104/index.html
The following article appeared on the home page of this web site before the
announcement was made:
London Times says Rowan Williams of Wales first choice for archbishop of
Canterbury
by James Solheim
(ENS) According to an article in the June
20 issue of the London Times by religion correspondent Ruth Gledhill,
Archbishop Rowan Williams of Wales is the first choice of the Crown
Appointments Commission to be the next archbishop of Canterbury.
The paper said it had learned that Williams
was the first of two names chosen by the commission at its two-day meeting
in Surrey last week. The complicated and arcane process requires that
commission members are sworn to secrecy, pledging to tell no one, not even
family members, about the process.
The names will be submitted to Prime Minister
Tony Blair in the next few weeks. He is responsible for forwarding a choice
to Queen Elizabeth II, although he could return the names to the commission,
regarded by most observers as quite unlikely. The queen will make a formal
announcement, "probably in the second half of July," according to the paper.
The Times quoted a Labour Party source
that said the prime minister was "very impressed by Rowan and thinks he is a
terrific theologian. Virtually every Labour MP with a Christian interest
wants Rowan." Williams is felt "to have the charisma and catholicity
necessary to lead the Church of England in the 21st century," according to
the paper's sources. And he has "the spiritual presence to act as primus
inter pares, first among equals, of the primates of the Anglican Communion
in an increasingly secular age."
If he were appointed, Williams would be the
first archbishop of Canterbury appointed from outside the Church of England
since the Reformation. He was born in Swansea and grew up in a family that
spoke Welsh.
Williams has been identified as a leading
candidate for the position in recent months, leading in surveys taken of
church leaders in the church's General Synod, and even a 9-4 favorite with
the bookmakers. Opposition to the appointment has come from those who "fear
that his positive stance towards the ordination of homosexuals could herald
conflict and even splits in the worldwide church," according to Gledhill.
In an
interview
with the Southern Cross during a speaking tour in Australia, Williams
admitted that he had ordained a gay man who was living in a committed
relationship. "I am not convinced that a homosexual has to be celibate in
every imaginable circumstance," he said. "But if that were the case, I would
also want to be sure that their attitude to their sexual habits is a
responsible, prayerful and theologically informed one."
Williams pointed out that "there are
distortions at both ends of the spectrum" in dealing with sexuality issues.
"There is an attitude that says the entire historical sexual morality of the
church is open to negotiation, and that really there are no fixed points. At
the other end of the spectrum, there are people who say that anything which
deviates an inch from the apparent plain sense of Scripture is a fundamental
matter of Christian integrity."
"I'm not happy with either of those
extremes," William said in the interview. "I believe that there is an
integral sexual morality, which the church has rightly taught, and that has
to do with the fact that our active sexuality must express the fidelity of
God, both in creation and in Christ. It's only within that framework that I
want to discuss the question of active homosexuality as a theological
possibility."
--James Solheim is director of Episcopal
News Service. |
The Rt. Rev. Dr. Rowan Williams
at Lambeth
Photo: Anglican World/J Rosenthal Archbishop Rowan
Williams, announced as the 104th Archbishop of Canterbury on 23rd July 2002.
Photo: Anglican World/J Rosenthal
Archbishop Rowan Williams at the 2002 Primates Meeting in
Canterbury.
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