The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, has announced he is stepping down in December.
Dr Williams has been in the post for the past ten years during which the Anglican Communion has been plunged into turmoil by the actions of the liberal-dominated Episcopal Church in the United States, culminating in the consecration of an openly homosexual bishop in contravention of the Lambeth resolution on human sexuality.
A statement from Canterbury said "It has been an immense privilege to serve as Archbishop of Canterbury over the past decade, and moving on has not been an easy decision. During the time remaining there is much to do, and I ask your prayers and support in this period and beyond. I am abidingly grateful to all those friends and colleagues who have so generously supported Jane and myself in these years, and all the many diverse parishes and communities in the Church of England and the wider Anglican Communion that have brought vision, hope and excitement to my own ministry. I look forward, with that same support and inspiration, to continuing to serve the Church’s mission and witness as best I can in the years ahead."
Dr Williams will become Master of Magdalene College, Cambridge from January 2013.
The statement said the decision had been conveyed to the Queen, who is Supreme Governor of the Church of England and who formally appoints the Archbishop of Canterbury.
In a later interview with the Press Association, Dr Williams said the timing of his retirement was associated with the next Lambeth Conference in 2018. "I certainly felt I needed a good 5 years to get myself ready for the last Lambeth Conference - there had to be a lot of thinking and planning, a lot of consideration about what sort of event it should be, and I’m very eager to let my successor have a good run-up to that" he said.
On Christianity in British society, Dr Williams said he didn't think it losing a “battle against secularisation”. "I certainly don’t get that impression when I’m with congregations, when I’m in church schools or in many settings like that" he said "I think there’s a great deal of interest still in the Christian faith, and although I think there is also a lot of ignorance and rather dim-witted prejudice about the visible manifestations of Christianity which sometimes clouds the discussion, I don’t think that there’s somehow a single great argument that the Church is losing. I think people have come back to debate, quite properly, with Richard Dawkins, with Philip Pullman, with Tony Grayling and others - that argument goes on very robustly."
What I think slightly shadows the whole thing is this sense that there are an awful lot of people now of a certain generation who don’t really know how religion works, let alone Christianity in particular. And that leads to confusions and sensitivities in the wrong areas – you know, does wearing a cross offend people who have no faith or non-Christians? I don’t think it does, but people worry that it will, and that’s partly because there’s a slight tone-deafness about how religious belief works. So, yes there’s a challenge, and yes the Church’s public role is more contested than it used to be, and yes we have to earn our right to speak more than perhaps was once the case. But that’s probably good for us. I’ve sometimes said, I think we should live in what I like to call ‘an argumentative democracy’, an argumentative pluralism. And for Christianity to be able to respond clearly and robustly in that setting is hugely important. I hope I can continue to contribute to that public discussion in the new role.
As to his successor, the Archbishop said "I think that it’s a job of immense demands and I would hope that my successor has the constitution of an ox and the skin of a rhinoceros really! He will, I think, have to look with positive, hopeful eyes on a Church which, for all its problems, is still for so many people a place to which they resort in times of need and crisis, a place to which they look for inspiration and I think the Church of England is a great treasure. I wish my successor well in the stewardship of it."
A statement from the next most senior cleric in the Church of England, the Archbishop of York, John Sentamu, said the announcement was received 'with great sadness'.
"Our partnership in the gospel over the past six years has been the most creative period of my ministry." Archbishop Sentamu said. "It has been life-giving to have led missions together, gone on retreats and prayed together. In his company I have drunk deeply from the wells of God’s mercy and love and it has all been joyful. He is a real brother to me in Christ" the statement continued.
Both the Archbishop of York and the Bishop of London, Richard Chartres, have been mentioned as possible successors but the process is controlled by the British government and the appointment is decided by the Crown Nominations Commission, which submits nominations to the Prime Minister and then to the Queen.
Photo: World Economic Forum
