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I think Anglican ecclesiology has probably always been a mess. This is partly a result of the way Anglicanism came about in the 16th century, initially through a break with Rome for the King’s own idiosyncratic reasons. So there’s a sense in which the national identity of the Church came first to Anglicanism in a rather topdown sort of way. However, what emerged over the ensuing decades, and indeed centuries, was a national and then international church which underwent reformation. This was on a different path from the continental Reformation and Counter Reformation but was heavily influenced by at least...

Pope Benedict XVI to Rowan Williams: In the present context, however, and especially in the secularized Western world, there are many negative influences and pressures which affect Christians and Christian communities. Over the last three years you have spoken openly about the strains and difficulties besetting the Anglican Communion and consequently about the uncertainty of the future of the Communion itself. Recent developments, especially concerning the ordained ministry and certain moral teachings, have affected not only internal relations within the Anglican Communion but also relations between the Anglican Communion and the Catholic Church. We believe that these matters, which are...

When push comes to shove, Rowan Williams is still as Anglican as all get out: In our uncertainties and explorations in the Communion, my prayers are not only for those who, like ourselves, have the responsibility of leadership in our Provinces, but most especially for all those ordinary people of God, in the Episcopal Church and elsewhere, who are puzzled, wearied, or disoriented by our present controversies. So many say they simply do not want to take up an extreme or divisive position and want to be faithful to Scripture and the common life. They want to preserve an Anglican...

British Airways is to "review" its ban on staff wearing the cross, we learnt yesterday. Presumably this means that the airline has bowed to the inevitable. Miss Nadia Eweida, a check-in worker, should soon be able to return to her place behind the Heathrow counter, wearing on her necklace a cross roughly the size of a five-pence coin. It has proved an expensive piece of jewellery for BA. On Monday, Miss Eweida, a devout Christian, lost her appeal to wear her cross over her uniform. The row had been simmering for two months, but it was this bizarre ruling that...

Churches in Zimbabwe are working to feed and heal a nation abandoned by its leadersTwenty-five years ago, people involved in the struggle against apartheid in South Africa would say wistfully: “Look at Zimbabwe. It's come through a bitter war of liberation without wrecking its social cohesion, it's developed a proper democratic culture and it's feeding itself.” Granted, this was, even then, a slightly too rosy picture, but it wasn't nonsense. It represented a conviction that Zimbabwe was showing what was possible to its neighbours and indeed to the whole continent. And this means that one of the worst of the...

Has Rowan Williams made up his mind? Unity in the Church - worldwide - is to you a means of coming closer to the truth. As you put it, ’If we don’t stay together, ’we are only following our own local denomination or our personal preferences. Where then do you draw the line? How far can unity be stretched within the boundaries of still being based on the Bible?In reply to this question Williams starts off with a rebuke of those who argue it is high time the Church accepted gay relationships. Their ideal is the inclusive church.  "I don’t...

The Archbishop of Canterbury is embroiled in an extraordinary war with David Cameron and rival Church leaders after a bitter attack on the Government. In the most brazen political intervention by a head of the Church of England for more than two decades, Dr Rowan Williams questioned the democratic legitimacy of the Coalition. He claimed 'no one voted' for flagship policies on welfare, health and education, which he said were causing 'anxiety and anger'. The remarks prompted a furious backlash from the Prime Minister and the leader of England's Roman Catholics, Archbishop Vincent Nichols. Dr Williams's attack came in a...

Just in the nick of time we see some real leadership from the Archbishop of Canterbury. No no, he isn't doing anything crazy to save the Anglican communion like embracing orthodoxy or anything. Canterbury leads us in a different direction, off a cliff. Rowan Williams has come out strongly in favor of the doctrine of higher taxes. Further, he gives us the source of this divinely inspired revelation, Big Brother 11. [Telegraph]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...

Rowan Williams addresses the Church of England's General Synod: You will be aware of a number of developments in the public arena in the last couple of weeks, notably the request from several US dioceses for some sort of direct primatial oversight from outside the US, preferably from Canterbury. This raises very large questions indeed; various consultations are going forward to clarify what is being asked and to reflect on possible implications. There has also been an announcement from Nigeria of the election by the Nigerian House of Bishops of an American cleric as a bishop to serve the Convocation...

April 3, 2010 Archbishop On Papal Offer: ‘God Bless Them, I Don’t’ Ruth Gledhill Like a Druidic emissary from Tuatha Dé Danaan, the mythic inhabitants of Ireland, the Archbishop of Canterbury will lob a spiritual depth charge at Pope Benedict XVI on Monday when he damns the Catholic Church in Ireland as having lost all credibility. Dr Williams also reveals on the BBC Radio 4 programme Start the Week that he is withholding his blessing from Anglicans who choose to take advantage of the Pope’s offer of a special home in the Catholic Church for disaffected Anglicans. “God bless them....

King Henry VIII might be in hell, the Archbishop of Canterbury suggested the other day in a sermon.There was an intake of breath among the congregation, yet I wondered if I'd misheard the Archbishop. I hadn't, for the text is on Rowan Williams's website: "If Henry VIII is saved (an open question, perhaps) it will be at the prayers of John Houghton." John Houghton was the Prior of the Charterhouse in London, where Dr Williams was preaching, on the 475th anniversary of the martyrdom of him and 15 other monks at the instigation of Henry VIII. Prior Houghton was declared...

Main Entry: pri'mate Etymology: Middle English primat, from Old French, from Medieval Latin primat-, primas archbishop, from Latin, leader, from primus Date: 13th century 1 often capitalized : a bishop who has precedence in a province, group of provinces, or a nation2 archaic : one first in authority or rank : LEADER 3 [New Latin Primates, from Latin, plural of primat-, primas] : any of an order (Primates) of mammals comprising humans, apes, monkeys, and related forms (as lemurs and tarsiers) -pri'mate-ship \-*ship\ noun --pri-ma'tial \pr*-*m*-sh*l\ adjective

BANGALORE: Archbishop of Canterbury Reverend Rowan Williams is known to be broad-minded, liberal and outspoken in his thoughts. As the Archbishop was about to rush in his car to a programme after the inter-faith dialogue at ECC concluded, TOI asked him what his view on gay rights was. Williams replied: "The answer to this question is a long one. But yes, I support gay rights as a personal and legal right in the civil domain." Dr Mani Chacko, director of ECC, said: "The Archbishop of Canterbury is broad-minded and liberal. It is true that he had proffered gentle criticism of...

Tue Oct 18,11:38 AM ET: The Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams told worshippers to compare praying to sunbathing, except that it is soaking in the light of God. Williams, the spiritual leader of the 77-million-strong worldwide Anglican Communion, said on a BBC radio programme that many people had trouble praying and thought it was a matter of "generally getting your act together". He said worshippers struggling to pray would be better off comparing praying to lying on a beach. They should stop trying too hard and just be where the light can reach them -- in this case the light...

PARIS (Reuters) - The spiritual leader of the world's 77 million Anglicans has said conservative Christians who cite the Bible to condemn homosexuality are misreading a key passage written by Saint Paul almost 2,000 years ago. Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, addressing theology students in Toronto, said an oft-quoted passage in Paul's Epistle to the Romans meant to warn Christians not to be self-righteous when they see others fall into sin. His comments were an unusually open rebuff to conservative bishops, many of them from Africa, who have been citing the Bible to demand that pro-gay Anglican majorities in the...

The archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, earned an unusual rebuke from British Prime Minister Gordon Brown last week for suggesting that some version of Islamic -- "Shariah" -- law would inevitably be introduced in Britain. Even in rejecting the idea, however, Mr. Brown noted that some aspects of Shariah could be accommodated on a "case-by-case" basis. This exchange highlights an issue that is fast reaching a boiling point in Britain and other Western countries with increasingly assertive Muslim communities. Can a modern democracy house more than one legal system, even on a limited basis, and remain a democracy as we...

The Archbishop of Canterbury is facing the present, major crisis within the Anglican family of Churches with wisdom and courage. He does not have the authority and power of a Patriarch or Pope. His authority is basically moral and relies on long-formed “bonds of affection.” Following the failure of the American Episcopal Church to provide the totality of positive response asked for by The Windsor Report and the Primates’ Meeting, Dr Williams is making a tremendous effort to guide the discussion and debate within the Anglican Communion in both reasonable and responsible ways, true to the Christian heritage of the...

Picture ants scurrying around on Archbishop Rowan’s reflection, released today, looking for something tasty.I have just a few humble thoughts. More later perhaps, but pressing pastoral needs and church administration chores call loudly.The Archbishop has painted a picture with an ocean horizon—the most distant possible—not an imaginary horizon blocked by a forest. There are items in the foreground that are clear and items in mid-perspective that are mostly hidden. It’s an agonizing picture in many ways for someone who is deeply disturbed by the General Convention’s total results.Here is one clear sentence that touches many points in the paper: …the...

[All, it seems like everybody is offering their analysis of +Williams' statement. Herein will be references to a few --sionnsar]

When Rowan Williams, then Bishop of Monmouth and Archbishop of Wales, was appointed Archbishop of Canterbury I was among those who were profoundly disappointed. I confess that I did not know much about the man, but his arrival in the mother diocese of Anglicanism was about as bad news to me as the election of his American counterpart had been in 1997. I wondered what now stood between our worldwide church and the deluge! In the years since he ascended Augustine's chair, I have had time to reassess this man, hear him speak, correspond with him, spend time alone with...