News from Canterbury
The link (a 3 MB pdf file) also includes photographs.
TO ALL AND SINGULAR CHRISTIAN PEOPLE whom the underwritten shall or may in any way concern ROBERT ANDREW WILLIS DL, DCL, DD DEAN of the Cathedral and Metropolitical Church of Christ Canterbury GREETING in the Lord Everlasting
WE DO MAKE IT KNOWN to you universally by these presents that the See of Canterbury being vacant by the resignation of The Most Reverend and Right Honourable Rowan Douglas Williams late Archbishop and Pastor thereof We the College of Canons aforesaid by virtue and authority of The Queen’s Licence granted to us for the Electing another Archbishop and Pastor of the said Church assembled together in our Cathedral on this Tenth day of January in the year of Our Lord Two thousand and thirteen and making a College of Canons there and observing the Laws and Statutes of this Kingdom and the ancient customs of the Cathedral Church in this behalf to be observed did elect THE RIGHT REVEREND JUSTIN PORTAL WELBY, Master of Arts, by Divine Permission Lord Bishop of Durham, to be Archbishop and Pastor of the said Cathedral and Metropolitical Church of Christ Canterbury
[signed] Robert Willis
DEAN
Readers are referred to the Appointment Of Bishops Act 1533 for the background to this news. They may also find this press release from Lambeth Palace helpful: Bishop Justin now Archbishop of Canterbury Elect.
‘To all and singular Christian people’ ‘universally’ ‘by Divine Permission’
Not a lot of humility in much of this, is there? I like traditional forms, but …
Congratulations, Archbishop. Thanks for taking this on… and every good wish for accomplishing its purpose.
It’s the ‘all and singular’ that gets me.
Talk about redundant.
See my comment on Archbishop of Canterbruy’s Website below,posted last night.
BTW, I join Jonathan in wishing him well. I’m just not amused by the form of the announcement of the ‘vote’.
I think the Dean has got it wrong – Justin Welby has been Bishop of Durham by Divine Providence, not Permission; should I go to the Confirmation of Election at St Paul’s and try to derail the process by raising an objection?!
‘All and singular’ is quite a (small ‘c’) catholic approach. The scope of those persons addressed is limited to ‘whom the underwritten shall or may in any way concern’, but this is the Church of England.
It may be legalese (like ‘jointly and severally liable’), but ‘To those en masse and as individuals’ doesn’t quite do the trick, does it? 😉
All very Elizabethan, quaint and lovely – but at what expense of time and energy? However, nostalgia can be quite uplifting (and no less diverting) in times of stress.
I think you’ll find that the formal style used for diocesan bishops is ‘by divine permission’, whereas the formal style used for archbishops is ‘by divine providence’. So the Dean is correct.
If you look at the photographs, you will see that there were three lawyers present, one of whom is John Rees, the provincial registrar for Canterbury. I’m sure that between them they got the wording correct. Another example of “by divine permission” can be seen on the ordination certificate in this photograph.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/peter-owen/3082199186/
Perhaps by “singular” they merely hope to keep abreast of movements of modernity amidst the Church of England, seeking to address those candidates for the episcopacy, who, being civilly partnered, are able to answer in the affirmative (should it come to such a pass before a panel of their peers-to-be) that they are indeed “singular” corporally, notwithstanding the existence of the civil partnership by the laws of England, construed by others — perhaps less Christian in outlook — as always having a physical sexual manifestation. =:-)
Perhaps I shouldn’t trust Wikipedia! – but I have seen reference elsewhere to ‘providence’ rather than ‘permission’ elsewhere, though I can’t at the mooment locate it.
“‘To those en masse and as individuals’ doesn’t quite do the trick, does it?”
Maybe not, but it sure adds clarity.
I semi-seriously thought maybe they were addressing all Christian people and including the unmarried ones.
I was wondering what had happened to Bob Willis since the 1981 Ashes series.
Peter K is correct – Durham alone amongst the bishops joins the two archbishops in holding his see by divine providence. Amongst ecclesiastical correspondance with government released a couple of years ago there was a sniffy letter from the then chaplain at Auckland Castle to No. 10 complaining they’d made the same mistake the dean has made. That was sent in 1944. Wonderful sense of priorities.
All right Stuart, now you’ve raised my ire. There were government officials in *Whitehall* paid with taxpayers’ money during the war, for heavens’s sake, who were diverting energy to this? Cite please? I can’t begin to express how angry this sort thing makes me.
How many Primates will turn up to the Enthronement I wonder?
Stuart – does the Bishop of Durham reign with divine providence rather than divine permission because he is successor to the Prince Bishops? The Dunelmian mitre on the bishop’s coat of arms still bears the coronet – let us hope that someone of princely stature is found to be the next occupant to sit upon the highest episcopal throne in Christendom.
Fr David, I assume that is correct. I have seen references to it being due to the “divine providence of the city’s founding”, but that sounds like the Durham Tourist Board have been putting some spin on it. Scot, you are of course right, but I mainly find it amusing that in the middle of the war someone still thought this important enough to address. The letter was included in an article in the Church Times when the papers were released – a year or two back. I’m afraid I don’t have the time to dig it out now, but… Read more »
Stuart – “divine providence of the city’s founding” – well, if you have ever been to Durham you will realise that it is indeed “The Zion of the North”. If you want to read of Durham’s praises being sung – I can think of no finer exposition than a sermon entitled “The Durham Tradition” preached in the cathedral church on 27th January 1932. This appears in a book named after the preacher N.P. Williams by Eric Waldram Kemp.
The two Archbishops and the Bishop of Durham hold office by “Divine Providence”; all others by “Divine Permission”. Hensley Henson added that some bishops do so by “Divine Inadvertence”.