The Archbishop of Canterbury delivered a lecture last Saturday in Cardiff.
Here’s the LamPal press release.
Here’s the full text.
Now here’s the press coverage:
BBC Church calls for ‘just’ recovery
The Times Ruth Gledhill Archbishop Dr Rowan William[s] blames government for economic crisis and her blog entry, Don’t blame greedy bankers – blame your own pride, Rowan tells Government. And republished the full text on the web here.
Guardian Sam Jones Don’t blame the bankers – deregulation and spending caused it too, says Williams and sidebar, In the archbishop’s words. Also an edited extract of the lecture, Rowan Williams Deeper than simple greed and also the full text on the web. Analysis by Andrew Brown at Cif Belief Deconstructing Rowan.
Telegraph no coverage so far that I could find.
Ekklesia Archbishop sets out fresh agenda for economic justice
The hunt for a simple scapegoat for the economic troubles we all now face seems to go on and on and on. Over time, the more alarming feature of this analytic gearing up in retrospect would appear to be its frequent failure to get anywhere near to best practices in terms of being able to draw upon any number of systemic models. What happened to system thinking? Is two-sided simplistic cause and effect the only sort of connection anybody can make these days? Does anybody much grasp that a system (particularly a very large system, which is what most national… Read more »
“Can we ever take care of what God gives us without wanting to own everything in sight, more, more, more, more, more?” – drdanfee – Couldn’t agree more. This is why such extravagances as space exploration seem at times like this, when we struggle to ‘manage’ our own earth environment, just a tad too far to travel. If the money and effort spent on such attempts to manage’ other environments were spent on finding ways to improve the lives of we mere mortals on earth, then who knows what could not be done, in terms of facilitation, for the needs… Read more »
I am afraid that I am unable to listen to or read, any more of the utterances and writing of the archbishop of Canterbury.
I just can’t.
I’m with L Roberts on this. Rowan Williams has made a signal failure of his own responsibilities. He has given succour to homophobes and misogynists, whether or not he is either of those things himself. He has failed to set a moral lead in the Anglican Communion. He excluded a legitimately elected and consecrated bishop of the Anglican Communion from the Lambeth Conference and gave hospitality to those who would tear it apart. Oppressors flourish and spread under his leadership. Why should anyone listen to this man on the state of the nation’s economy or anything else?
L Roberts & Toby Forward: Yes, you’re both quite right.
There is a pressing moral imperative for the C of E to get its own ethical house in order and end discrimination before its leaders can even begin to pontificate about ethics to the rest of society.
Everyone except the C of E’s bishops seems to see this, but of course taking a courageous moral stand against injustice within one’s own organisation entails just too much awkwardness in practice; whereas making high-flown clear-cut ethical statements to the rest of the world is far easier…
Having made a thorough hash of his proper responsibilities, the ABC has no shame in making lofty pronouncements on topics in which he has – to my knowledge – no formal training. Great. I will now expound on string theory … wait! The ABC is issuing a statement on that very thing!
I am sorry, but I am in full agreement with the earlier posts. I was at the lecture last Saturday and I can only recommend it to all, it is vintage Rowan! The trouble is I almost had to be tied to my chair and gagged as he nailed his “Justice” flag firmly to the mast. As we prepare for the “Global Anglican Church” under his primacy and see the crushing of local initiatives – Rowan denounces globalisation and the destruction of local/national economies which are so much more able to respond. It’s all there, his usual stuff clear and… Read more »
toby forward, fr Mark and Cynthia Gillatt, I am afraid you speak for me too. The worse thing for me, probably, is tht I can have no confidence in the intgrity and persistence of Anything he says now. He may blithely wave it away in 5, 10 or twnety years from now. Having sat in the clergy consultation at the Royal foundation of St Katherine (Buther Row) and ehard him address a gathering of gay clergy enthusiastiucally about gay relationships and their place in Church and their blessedness -he was recieved ‘as one of our own’ –then to hear him… Read more »
PS
I omitted ‘the Jeffrey John affair’. That spoke volumes, but we couldnt have known then the depth of it. Williams behaved very badly –as did others who should have known better. But it was up to Canterbury to ‘withstand them to their face.’ Surely.
How I wish the bishop-designate could have held his nerve –a tall order amidst that maelstrom. He had the Royal Assent and in C ofE terms needed none other.
““Trustworthiness, realism (humility) and the clear sense that we must resist polices or practices which accept the welfare of some at the expense of others – there is a back-of-an-envelope idea of where we might start in pressing for a global economic order that has some claim to be just,” he commented. cf Rowan Williams ABC This statement, above, from the Archbishop of Canterbury, may seem to be just one more cliche in the plethora of cliches with which the world is confronted in troday’s economic climate, but there is one word here (humility) which we will not find in… Read more »
Economic crises do not occur in a vacuum. When spending is diverted into war related activities, it is at the expense of other things. Too much diversion, and eventually a funding crunch occurs – either through paying interest on debts, or having to urgently find funds to replace necessary infrastructure that crumbled from neglect.
Ron, at the time of his appointment, the most promising alternative was not Rochester, but Richard Harries. He would have had a short time to occupy the office. He had the courage and discernment to appoint Jeffrey John. It is likely that he would have had the courage and discernment to make it clear to the Anglican Communion that the Church of England would not discriminate against women and gay people. He was the ideal candidate to deal with the Bullying Tendency which has frightened the present incumbent into his shameful stance.
Maybe Richard Harries would have been more pressing on the cause of women and gays in the Church of England, but, Toby, would he have been able to keep the rest of Communion together for long enough to stop it splitting apart? Much as most of us do love the C.of E. (it was my own foundation of faith), we cannot consider only the Mother Church in all of this. There is the world-wide community of Anglican Churches to bring into the equation. I believe that Rowam Williams is an outstanding ABC, and still think that his prayerful, catholic spirituality… Read more »
“He [the ABC} needs our prayers, and not our condemnation.”
Well I pray that he look at more pending anti-glbt legislation in Nigeria and what some of his Global South people are saying about lgbt people.
Ron, you mean the Anglican Communion is holding together now? You must be on some good stuff; where can I get some?
If it’s all right with you, I’ll pray for him and condemn his actions at the same time.
Cynthia and Toby, now that Nigeria has pronounced its own condemnation of the LGBT community by supporting adverse legislation against them in the law-courts, I think – agreeing with you both -that this might be the right time for the ABC and other Primates of the Anglican Communion to disassociate themselves from the Archbishop of Nigeria and other bishops in that Province on this issue. I do believe in the power of prayer.
Hi Ron, thanks for your latest post. I think the first thing that needs to happen is for a personal and public apology to go from Rowan williams to the Bishop of New Hampshire. That would be a start.
Toby – I find I am in agreement with your last post. Having been privileged to meet with Bishop Gene in the UK during his earlier visit last year to St. Mary’s, Putney, and having read the book he launched on that occasion; I believe that he ought to be in receipt of an apology by the whole assembly of the A.C. Primates. Gene’s prophetic stance in our Churches needs to be vindicated – especially in the light of the Nigerian Primate’s latest collusion in homophobic legislation within his country.
‘the Jeffrey John affair’ You know, I am fascinated by the perception of Jeffrey John as the poor guy who was walked on by the Archbishop of Canterbury in deference to the homophobes. No doubt, he received incredible pressure from on high to step aside. But a good read of the life of St. Chad of Lichfield is in order. He was a duly appointed bishop. His consecration was irregular because of a decision by the then ABpofC. No doubt he too received much political pressure to step down. He had a bunch of snotty continentals treating him like a… Read more »
Yes, but Ford, he subsequently accepted the position of Dean of St Albans, a high level post in the C of E. The hypocrisy of system that says someone is ineligible to be a bishop on the basis of their sexuality, but perfectly eligible to be a dean, is shameful.
“The hypocrisy of system that says someone is ineligible to be a bishop on the basis of their sexuality, but perfectly eligible to be a dean, is shameful.”
No argument from me on this. But what does that have to do with JJ stepping aside “for the good of the Church”? (Assuming, of course, that’s why he did it) If anything, you could say that the situation you describe is a prime opportunity to highlight the hypocrisy that 500 years of Erastianism has brought to the CofE.