‘Rogues or idiots’: Justin Welby condemns TV portrayal of clergy

Nov 25, 2021 by

‘Rogues or idiots’: Justin Welby condemns TV portrayal of clergy

by Harriet Sherwood, Guardian: Archbishop of Canterbury says vicars are ‘hard-working, normal people’ rather than ‘depressing’ depictions seen in TV dramas. The archbishop of Canterbury has said the clergy are portrayed in television dramas as “rogues or idiots” whereas in reality they are “hard-working, normal people, caring deeply about what they do”. Such fictional depictions of vicars were “depressing”, Justin Welby told the National Farmers’ Union. Departing from the text of his speech,...

read more

Archbishop Justin Welby sorry for abuse-accused bishop comment

Nov 17, 2021 by

Archbishop Justin Welby sorry for abuse-accused bishop comment

by Harry Farley, BBC: The Archbishop of Canterbury has apologised for saying a “significant cloud” hung over the name of the late Bishop of Chichester George Bell. In 1995 a woman alleged Mr Bell – who died in 1958 – sexually abused her as a girl. The police were only called in after she wrote to Mr Welby in 2013. The Church settled with her out of court in 2015 and issued an apology. However, a review of the case in 2017 said the Church “rushed to...

read more

Synod: Archbishop Justin’s remarks on the Church of Ghana

Nov 17, 2021 by

Synod: Archbishop Justin’s remarks on the Church of Ghana

Speaking at General Synod today, the Archbishop of Canterbury said homophobia, including the criminalisation of LGBTQ+ people, is always wrong in any context – and that the Anglican Church in Ghana does not condone the criminalisation of the LGBTQ+ community.   Archbishop Justin said: “In response to the point made by the chair of the Business Committee, I wanted to make a couple of comments about the situation in our relations with the Anglican Church in Ghana. As I said in my...

read more

Archbishop of Canterbury’s statement following a meeting with the Archbishop, bishops and senior clergy of the Anglican Church of Ghana

Nov 13, 2021 by

Archbishop of Canterbury’s statement following a meeting with the Archbishop, bishops and senior clergy of the Anglican Church of Ghana

by Justin Welby: On 3rd November, I met online with the Anglican Archbishop of Ghana, the Most Revd Cyril Kobina Ben-Smith, and several bishops and senior clergy from the Anglican Church of Ghana. We discussed their response to the draft Bill that is before the Ghanaian parliament, aimed at strengthening family life but including within it provision for the criminalisation of many LGBTQI+ people.  I welcomed this conversation, which should have happened before my previous statement. That is...

read more

Review of Volume 2 of Lord Carey’s Memoirs

Nov 11, 2021 by

Review of Volume 2 of Lord Carey’s Memoirs

by Chris Sugden, The Church of England Newspaper: The Truth will set you free.  George Carey. I recently suggested that Lord Carey be invited to chair a significant public meeting in Oxford. The response was he might himself become the story for local journalists. Clearly, in the poorly informed public mind Lord Carey is primarily associated with recent stories about what he knew or did not know with relation to safeguarding cases in the Church of England. Three of the final chapters of this...

read more

How to alienate good people

Nov 5, 2021 by

How to alienate good people

by Charles Wide, The Critic: Having insulted thousands of its blameless members, the Church of England now aims to embed racial distinction in its very structures. On 7 October, the Archbishops of Canterbury and York announced the membership of a new Racial Justice Commission “to help [them] fulfil their commitments to identify, respond to, and root out systemic racism in the Church”. Its remit includes reviews of: theology, slavery, history and memory, culture and liturgy, complaints...

read more