Dr Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, said it would be “a serious mistake” to view Pope Benedict XVI’s offer of an Anglican sanctuary within Roman Catholicism as a response to difficulties within the Church of England. He might be right in suggesting that the Pontiff’s plan for a new canonical structure is intended to cast the net of Rome more widely, notably to the farther shores of Anglicanism in America and Australia. But it will clearly have a profound impact on the Church of England, which makes it surprising that Dr Williams was not informed of this significant development until relatively recently, as he himself acknowledged.
Dr. Williams may feel “aggrieved” that he was not given substantial advance notice of Rome’s action, but for that, he has only himself to blame. When conservatives in the C of E and ECUSA approached him, he encouraged them to begin the process which led ultimately to the formation of ACNA, and then publicly dumped them. He did this more than once, and Rome does not seek out people to consult whom it considers untrustworthy. Williams is now beginning to reap what he sowed, and though I feel sorry for his pain, he needs to acknowledge that his failure to lead (cowardice?) was finally challenged.
This just goes to show, that in more than one way, Dr. Williams is “out of it.”