George Carey claims that Christianity is one generation away from extinction….[and he] has a point. The forces of atheism are ranged against us and, as he points out, too many Christian clergy cannot stand up to the challenge. They are too ready to dilute their ethos ”“ look at what has been happening with faith schools, both Anglican and Catholic.
But before we give up on the faith of our forefathers, let’s consider three new factors. Pope Francis, Justin Welby and the backlash effect. The extraordinary impact of Francis has been felt not only among his immediate audience ”“ Italians, who are now retuning to Mass ”“ but, incredibly, among the intelligentsia that is traditionally so sceptical of Christian values. Jonathan Freedland, who is neither a Christian nor a conservative, went so far as to predict that in college dorms around the globe, students will replace their posters of Che Guevara with ones of Francis. Justin Welby’s impact has been more subtle, but he too has shown Christianity in a new light: inclusive, compassionate, and above all truthful. No wasting time and effort on false gods like money, celebrity, status.
Both men have struck a chord. Christians ”“ and many non-Christians ”“ have grown weary of the relentless pursuit of shallow goals. We have grown weary of being mocked for holding dear our heritage and its immortal values: charity, honesty, humility, and love. “Backlash” sounds too violent for a Christian response, but that is what I believe is taking root. I see it in the effort to block porn on the internet, the generous reaction to the Philippines’ disaster, the distaste for bloated bankers and for OTT, twerking celebrities.
RE: “Justin Welby’s impact has been more subtle, but he too has shown Christianity in a new light: inclusive, compassionate, and above all truthful. . . Both men have struck a chord.”
A bizarre and rather grandiose assertion as I see no evidence — [i]none whatsoever[/i] — that if somebody said “Justin Welby” anyone over here would have a clue as to who he is. There is no “chord” striking at all from Welby, whereas there is from Pope Francis.
I mean — I guess there is “chord striking” amongst Anglicans [and much of that thoroughly unpositive], because Welby is the new ABC. But I think she’s talking about “chord striking” amongst the non-religious and those outside the denomination of the respective leaders, in which case, Welby is a non-entity and irrelevant to discussions because nobody outside the Anglicans and a few Roman Catholics even know who he is.
The comparison between Francis and Welby is apt for several reasons:
1) Vision informed by RC social teaching
2) Shaped by Jesuit and ecumenical spirituality
3) despised by culture warriors
4) admired by the orthodox believer and also seekers
5) new, even unprecedented,level of collaboration between ABC and Pope
Accurate article for how Welby is viewed by many Christians in UK and Europe as well as orthodox Anglicans worldwide
I have no horse in the race, except to say that, to my knowledge there’s slim to no evidence of correlation between approval ratings of Archbishops (or indeed Popes) and church attendance in England.
Given the dire history, I think this could probably be said, truthfully, of every ABC from Ramsey onwards. Of course, unprecedented collaboration is compatible with a relentless down scaling of goals. Anyone remember visible unity in our generation? Bishops and clergy in England still said that in the 80s. Then women were ordained as presbyters in England and I heard the Anglican co-chair of ARCIC guess that it had put back visible unity by centuries. Two decades on I think it’s fair to say that various “unprecedented” changes have not improved the possibility of visible unity, for those who still remember or care that’s what ARCIC was originally aiming towards.
I’m thinking the college dorm posters will come down when the press discovers that Francis is, truly, a Catholic. When Fantasy Francis is replaced by Catholic Francis, the cheering will stop.
[blockquote]3) despised by culture warriors
4) admired by the orthodox believer and also seekers[/blockquote]
We don’t agree on the definitions of “culture warriors” or “orthodox” . . . unsurprising, of course, and not all that important, but the attempted rhetorical distractions don’t take away from the reality that Francis has taken the secular world by storm, and Welby is a non-entity to the secular world.
Doesn’t mean either or both are wrong or right — it’s just that one has received the popular attention and the other has not, and the author’s thesis concerning Welby remains oddly grandiose.
Welby is a non-entity to the secular world and non-secular world
There fixed that for you.