He worked his way into the upper echelons of society on both sides of the Atlantic, using a series of adopted personas. But when he died of a heart attack in 1977, alone in a flat in Kensington, his only son – the person closest to him at the end of his life – did Read more
Both the Archbishop of Canterbury and his newly-appointed successor are dismayed at the defeat of a proposal to ordain women as bishops in the Church of England. After hours of debate, the proposal for women bishops won the required two-thirds majority from the general synod’s house of bishops and house of clergy, but was four Read more
The newly appointed leader of the world’s Anglicans, Bishop Justin Welby, has acknowledged Catholic influences in his spiritual life and social thinking. Bishop Welby, a former oil executive who gave up a six-figure salary to become an Anglican priest, will succeed Archbishop Rowan Williams as Archbishop of Canterbury. During a news conference at Lambeth Palace Read more
The Church of England on Wednesday started the process of choosing the next Archbishop of Canterbury. Reports said the move is aimed at preventing 80 million Anglicans worldwide from splitting over issues of gay marriage and women bishops. A report by Reuters said the new church leader must reconcile modernists and traditionalists in the Church, Read more
The bishops of London, Durham and Chelmsford are emerging as leading contenders in the race to become the next Archbishop of Canterbury. An announcement on the successor to Dr Rowan Williams, who steps down at the end of the year, is expected early next month. The Crown Nominations Commission (CNC), the committee charged with selecting Read more
The Anglican Church is planning to appoint a ‘presidential’ figure to oversee the day-to-day running of the Church. Dr Rowan Williams made the plans known in an interview with the Daily Telegraph, saying the ‘president’ would oversee the Anglican communion and its 77 million members, leaving the Archbishop of Canterbury free to concentrate on running Read more
Dr Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, will step down later this year. He is described as “Britain’s foremost theologian” in an article by Toby Helm and Julian Coman in the Guardian. “In an incendiary book”, called Faith in the Public Square, the Archbishop is forthright in his views about such topics as the Big Society: “‘Big Read more
Britain’s Chief Rabbi and the Archbishop of Canterbury have declared conflicting positions about a Government plan to legalise same-sex marriages. For the Chief Rabbi, Lord Sacks, any attempt to redefine marriage would undermine the character of a sacred institution recognised “from time immemorial”. For the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, the Anglican Church is Read more
John Sentamu, the charismatic Archbishop of York – the only black bishop in the mother church of the Anglican Communion, is the bookies favourite to replace Rowan Williams. However his former aid, Arun Arora, claims that a whispering campaign fuelled by “naked racism” will damage his chances of election. Sentamu’s upbringing in Uganda, where he Read more
Archbishop of Canterbury could be stripped of his role as figurehead of the worldwide Anglican Church, leaders representing 40 million churchgoers have signalled as they launched a scathing attack on a liberal drift within the Church. A coalition of bishops and leaders from Africa, the Americas and Australasia said it was time for a “radical Read more