The Archbishop was visiting Kenya to offer condolence and solidarity following the attack, while encouraging Archbishop Eliud and other bishops and clergy ministering around the Nairobi area.
Following his sermon Archbishop Justin had lunch with Archbishop Eliud, five Kenyan bishops and those Anglican primates who had arrived early in Nairobi for the Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON), which starts today.
The Archbishop was unable to attend the conference due to a prior engagement in Iceland and the baptism of Prince George in London, but has sent a video greeting.
This press release is disgraceful. It is insulting to the primates he went to Kenya to meet and demeaning to the Archbishop himself. This does not meet the standard of truth-telling we expect of Christian leaders. If I were the boss, those responsible for this statement would be fired.
Indeed – economical with the truth? Most definitely.
Welby went to Nairobi, preached twice in the Cathedral, barely mentioning Westgate but banging on about the Bible and Reconciliation, lunched with the GAFCON primates, met with them privately. How could he and his staff possibly think they could get away with such a disengenuous press release? Who were they kidding – did they think that no one in England reads anything else?
Did they think that no one in the Anglican Communion would know how untruthful this is including the GAFCON Primates he invited himself to meet?
Why tell such transparent lies when you were with leaders of the major Anglican Provinces?
Who did this? Ailsa Anderson joins in December as Director of Communications, so it can’t have been the palace flunkey. So that realistically leaves Ed Thornton hot foot from the loony liberal catholic Church Times who has just been unwisely taken on as his Press Officer or Jan McFarlane, the Acting Press Secretary, in the firing line.
On the other hand, the ultimate responsibility for what comes out of Lambeth Palace is the responsibility of Justin Welby. It is not the first time there have been questions about his provision of information which is transparently inaccurate and verifiably untrue. There was the recent case of an Archbishop told there was no room at Canterbury Cathedral when all sorts of odds and bods to my knowledge were fitted in. And there have been one or two other comments from him which have been eyebrow raising to say the least.
It is not a good start – having rejigged his staff, we are back to the half lies and spin which characterised Lambeth Palace under Rowan Williams. If he is wise, Welby will take note and ensure that anything which comes out of his mouth or his press office is completely truthful. Integrity and reliability of his word is absolutely essential to his maintenance of respect.
Even the IRA, reprehensible as they were, issued very few statements, but when they did they were scrupulously truthful, which could not be said for those from the British Government. Journalists came to know that when the terrorists issued a statement it was probably reliable.
It is early days in Welby’s tenure, and he really needs to sort this issue out right now.