One is the ruler of a global congregation recently put at nearly 1.2 billion, the other a nominal head of a worldwide communion of some 80 million….Joseph Ratzinger and Rowan Williams will [soon] meet during the papal visit to Britain. There is much to unite these seemingly disparate figures
It is common to describe Pope Benedict XVI and the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, as the two most distinguished thinkers to hold their respective posts for several centuries. Both are former professors steeped in the classical Christian tradition, but share a gift for recasting apparently dusty or arcane material in up-to-date language. Both are excellent preachers, lucid as well as learned.
It is equally common to point up big differences between the two leaders, starting with the most divisive internal questions of our times: women bishops and homosexuality. The Pope’s conservatism on both matters is implacable. The archbishop thinks that all levels of ordained ministry should be open to candidates of both sexes; and he made several weighty pro-gay statements before his translation to Canterbury ”“ even though he now feels bound to defer to the conservative majority in worldwide Anglicanism on this subject….
Look a bit closer, though, and an apparently ill-matched pair seem a lot less different than at first sight.
Thoughtful, but I am not sure where he got this idea:
[blockquote]After an acutely difficult early period at Lambeth, he won respect from both the liberal and conservative wings of his Communion and went on to make a success of the 2008 Lambeth Conference. His record compares favourably with that of Benedict,…[/blockquote]
The Pope arrived this morning and I watched the official welcome by the Queen at Holyrood Palace in Edinburgh. Dr Williams was one of the first to greet him, although he is out of his territory in Scotland and the Pope shook his hand, very briefly.
In spite of the naysayers, there was a warm welcome afterwards for HH in Princes Street along which the Pope perambulated in his Popemobile.
Tomorrow’s one hour 4pm meeting with Dr Williams and the Catholic and Anglican Diocesan bishops at Lambeth Palace may be interesting. Smile!
RE: “went on to make a success of the 2008 Lambeth Conference . . . ”
Heh.
Somebody’s *got* to have been paid to write that!
RE: “An obvious inference to be drawn from this article is that the Pope could learn a good deal from the archbishop about negotiating the Christian presence in societies much more diverse than Bavaria and Rome.”
What a hoot.
The Pope could learn a good deal from the archbishop about how to lose the vast majority of Anglicans’ presence from the councils of the Anglican Communion? The Pope could learn a good deal from the archbishop about how to divide the Anglican Communion, perhaps permanently?
The pope doesn’t know about “negotiating the Christian presence in [diverse] societies” . . . and could learn this . . . from Rowan Williams?
Somebody’s got to be getting paid to churn this stuff out. Seriously. The man has been an abject failure at leading the Anglican Communion and serves as a lesson of “what not to do” to any religious leader including the Pope.
It is probably right to count Lambeth 2008 as a success, albeit in the very difficult circumstances created by the fiasco of Lambeth 1998.
This piece is by Rupert Shortt, who has written a biography of the present Pope (2005) and a biography of the present Archbishop of Canterbury (2008). He is the religion editor of the Times Literary Supplement.
#4 Thanks badman, we know who Rupert Shortt is, and have even read his work. It doesn’t make some of this writing any less risible, although you seem to suffer from the same delusional fantasies as he does from Lalaland.
Whatever you think of the outcome, Lambeth 1998 was the last Lambeth Conference for grown-ups, before it was in[daba]fantalised by Dr Williams. I am not sure how a conference which was largely boycotted could conceivably be termed a success, but full marks for effort.
and peace also with you, Pageantmaster.
#7 and with thy spirit, badman.
Sarah #2, it must have been the Brothers Grimm.
🙂
Peace upon us all. Let us acknowledge that the ABC has managed the crisis in the Anglican Communion with the same alacrity as the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church managed the abuse crisis.
The hierarchy of the Church was ponderously slow, as usual, in responding to the abuse crisis. Key points:
1) It should have been handled by local bishops, who took very bad advice from psychologists were prone to cover up, and
2) Cardinal Ratzinger had a staff of 12 to deal with this, among very many other issues, for the worldwide church. He did all he could, against stiff odds.
Now, at least in the US, the Church has the most robust anti-abuse regimen of training for those who work with children of any institution. In time, I expect this will be implemented elsewhere. I do not see any similar progress in dealing with the chaos in the Anglican Communion.
One should also bear in mind that the concerted campaign by the media and the profiteering lawyers against the Roman Catholic Church has distracted attention from the fact that the sexual abuse of children was at least as prevalent in other Christian bodies. The record of the US public schools is appalling, and never publicized.
The Church provided an excellent target for 1) a media hostile to Christian values and 2) trial lawyers — because the “corporation sole” model of each diocese and size of the Church provided a large trove of attachable assets. Can’t get that from independent Pentecostals (who have probably the highest incidence of abuse), churches in which each congregation is independent, or ailing mainline Protestant denominations.