So how will Justin Welby handle that tension? Rowan Williams\u2019 decade in Lambeth Palace was occasionally difficult and often controversial, with the outgoing Archbishop wearily wishing his successor \u201cthe constitution of an ox and the skin of a rhinoceros.\u201d\u009d Where Williams \u201d\u201c a Doctor of Philosophy \u201d\u201c began to irritate politicians and some parts of the press with his interventions, perhaps Welby\u2019s background gives him a surer platform from which to speak?<\/p>\n
\u201cIt gives me a public profile which is slightly different, but apart from that I have no more or less authority than Rowan Williams,\u201d\u009d he insists. But there is, he admits, a clear difference. \u201cI certainly have a less strong background in philosophy and ethics as a professional discipline\u201d\u00a6 certainly more experience of what happens in practice when you try and apply these things. And you need both.\u201d\u009d<\/p>\n
But how did that career in oil train him for the work he does today? Welby pauses. \u201cI\u2019m often asked that question. I never know the answer.\u201d\u009d But the answer is this: Welby understands the world beyond the church.<\/p>\n