Although he's fourth in line behind Christopher Cocksworth, Graham James, and John Sentamu,
Giles Fraser likes Bishop of Durham Justin Welby for Archbishop of Canterbury.
Paddy Power has him as 6:1 to be the next archbishop of Canterbury. But
Justin Welby, the Bishop of Durham, is having none of it. He really
doesn't want the job. "Lets be clear, I'm one of the thicker bishops in
the Church of England," he tells me. I'm not taken in by this disarming
self-deprecation – something for which Old Etonians like him are not
especially noted. No, there is nothing remotely thick about Bishop
Welby.
Ah well, I don't know whether Bishop Welby is thick or not, so I'll take Giles' word for it that he's not. For the sake of my English friends, I hope and pray for a wise choice by the Crown Nominations Commission. For the sake of the Anglican Communion, too, although I hope the leaders of the Episcopal Church will never again be as obsequious to another Archbishop of Canterbury as they have been at times to Archbishop Rowan. I also nurse a small hope that the next ABC might like the members of the Episcopal Church just a little and have the occasional kind word for us, unlike Rowan Williams who seemed so often to scorn, scold, and lecture.
"I have tried to avoid saying anything," he admits at the end of the interview. Well, I'm not sure he succeeded. On many levels he seems like a central-casting Church of England bishop. On the subject of women bishops he speaks of the need to square the circle, reconciling those who think it a theological necessity and those
who think it a theological impossibility. How do you do this? "Well,
you just look at the circle and say it's a circle with sharp bits on
it."
On the question of women bishops, Bishop Welby surely succeeded in not saying anything to me, for I have no idea what he means by his "circle with sharp bits on
it
". Still, he'd have Giles Fraser's vote, if he had a vote, which should count for something.
No circle is perfect...they all have sharp bits at the quantum level.
ReplyDeleteWell then, theme, since you're so smart, explain to me what is the good bishop's position on women bishops in the Church of England?
DeleteHe's a corporate man. He could be a Bishop Charles Handy - see Charles Handy and that recent structural advice regarding the disappearing Church in Wales.
ReplyDeleteI looked up Charles Handy - out of the oil business into academia. Justin Welby - out of the oil business into the church. Company men. Is it once a company man, always a company man?
DeleteWe certainly don't want a prophet, do we?
ReplyDeleteDo we, Muthah?
DeleteGod bless and keep the future ABC...far away from TEC! [Shamelessly cribbed from "Fiddler on the Roof"]
ReplyDeleteHeh, heh.
DeleteJCF, I had to take down the post with the joke, because I could not get the picture to show.
A duty of the Bishop of Durham is to escort the monarch at their coronation. Michael Ramsey came to notice looking very English and Episcopal at the right hand of Elizabeth II at her coronation.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.angelfire.com/realm2/coronation/coronation2.html
Murdoch, thanks for the link to the wonderful set of pictures of HRH. She was so young and so pretty. I wonder how much the crown weights, not to mention the train and the rest of the ensemble.
DeleteThe other bishop who escorts the monarch is Bath and Wells -- the bishop's palace at Wells has a moat where bishops have been said to swim from time to time. My interest in the photos was more in Ramsey, whom I saw frequently when I worked at Church House in the 1960s. A great character and a great Archbishop. He was No.100 -- should have retired the title after him.
DeleteMimi, you sparked my curiosity. Without googling too hard, I discovered that the Queen wore the George IV diadem to the Abbey (weight unknown), was crowned therein with St. Edward's Crown (made of solid gold plus jewels, weight 4 lbs., 12 oz.), but mercifully wore the Imperial State Crown from the Abbey (weight a mere 2 lbs. - ha).
DeleteThe weight of the coronation gown and the velvet robes of state I couldn't find, but how fortunate that she was a young, healthy girl at the time, fond of long walks up the Scottish hillsides and so forth - eh?
Russ, thanks for doing the homework. I remember when I watched the coronation, Elizabeth looked so weighed down once the crown was placed on her head. She was quite young to assume the responsibilities of the monarchy, and she's done a fine job over many years.
DeleteMurdoch, wouldn't it be wonderful for the church and the rest of us in the Anglican Communion to have another like Ramsey?
DeleteFine and more than fine. Not even Hollywood could have cast anyone more perfectly suited for the role. She's never put a foot wrong, and borne it all with grace and devotion and I think great good humor too.
DeleteI think "sharp bits" = corners of a square. In other words, call it one thing, while it remains another. Squaring the circle is, of course, an impossible task. Like governing the CofE, apparently.
ReplyDeleteHeaven, help me, I may be losing my mind, but +Welby sounds like ++Rowan. Perhaps he sees the reconciliation of the two sides in the matter of women bishop as an impossible task. Still, it must be done.
DeleteNo, I don't think he sees them as irreconcilible. Ultimately there will be an agreement and some will leave as unable to agree. I think he is completely realistic in this respect. No resolution will produce happiness for everyone. It's not just squaring circles, but rounding off the squares too. Whatever resolution is agreed the actualities will be infinitely more messy and incongruous than simple legislation.
ReplyDeleteMore Edgar Schein than Charles Handy I think Adrian.
ReplyDeleteWell, theme, all I can think of is, "Just do it!" It's been 30 years that the women wait, and it's still being dragged out. As Rosie said on Facebook, the moment should be one for rejoicing, and the bishops have already taken the joy out of it with their delays and reluctance to move forward.
ReplyDeleteThat would be 20 years, wouldn't it? Still a long wait.
Delete