Let Muslim Primary School Teachers Wear Full-face Veil in Class – Rowan Williams

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Former Archbishop of Canterbury says ‘panic’ about the niqab is 'largely misplaced' even if young children cannot see their teacher’s face

There is no need to “panic” about Muslim primary school teachers wearing the full-face veil in class, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, Lord Williams, has insisted.

He said concerns that young children would struggle to learn from a woman whose face was covered were “largely misplaced” and that there are other ways to "read” what people are saying.

The former Archbishop’s remarks, in an interview for the Christian think-tank Theos, reopen the debate about the place of the niqab in British public life.

It follows a political storm last year after the then Home Office minster Jeremy Browne called for a national discussion about restrictions in some settings such as schools to prevent young women from having the veil “imposed” on them.

David Cameron rejected the idea of a ban but said he would “back up” schools and courts that ask women to remove veils. » | John Bingham, Religious Affairs Editor | Monday, November 10, 2014

Former Archbishop of Canterbury: We Are a Post-Christian Nation

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Exclusive: Former archbishop of Canterbury says Britain is no longer a nation of believers, as Telegraph poll reveals Christians are reluctant to express their faith

Britain is now a “post-Christian” country, the former archbishop of Canterbury has declared, as research suggests that the majority of Anglicans and Roman Catholics now feel afraid to express their beliefs.

In an interview with The Telegraph, Lord Williams of Oystermouth says Britain is no longer “a nation of believers” and that a further decline in the sway of the Church is likely in the years ahead.

While the country is not populated exclusively by atheists, the former archbishop warns that the era of regular and widespread worship is over.

His stark assessment comes after David Cameron ignited a national debate over the place of religion in British public life. The Prime Minister urged Christians to be “more evangelical” about their faith and claimed that Britain should be a more confidently Christian country.

His remarks, in the run-up to Easter, provoked a furious response from atheist and secular groups, and prompted a succession of senior politicians to give their views, culminating in Nick Clegg, the Liberal Democrat leader, calling for the disestablishment of the Church of England. » | Tim Ross, Cole Moreton and James Kirkup | Saturday, April 26, 2014

Rowan Williams Pours Scorn on David Cameron's 'Big Society'
THE OBSERVER: Key policy 'comes across as waffle', says archbishop of Canterbury in valedictory bombshell

The archbishop of Canterbury has denounced David Cameron's "big society", saying that it comes across as aspirational waffle that was "designed to conceal a deeply damaging withdrawal of the state from its responsibilities to the most vulnerable".

The outspoken attack on the prime minister's flagship policy by Rowan Williams – his strongest to date – is contained in a new book, Faith in the Public Square, that is being prepared for publication ahead of his retirement.

Passages from the book, obtained by the Observer, reflect the archbishop's deep frustration not just with the policies of Cameron's government and those of its Labour predecessors, but also with what he sees as the west's rampant materialism and unquestioning pursuit of economic growth. Williams also laments spiralling military expenditure, writing that "the adventure in Iraq and its cost in any number of ways seems to beggar the imagination".

But it is his suggestion that the big society – Cameron's personal vision of a more active civic society – is seen by people as a deliberate cover for plans to shrink the state that will be most controversial. On Saturday night, Cameron revealed he was considering scrapping most of the £1.8bn in housing benefits paid to 380,000 under-25s, worth an average of £90 a week, forcing them to support themselves or live with their parents. He also told the Mail on Sunday he might stop the £70-a-week dole money for the unemployed who refuse to try hard to find work or produce a CV.

Commenting on the "big society", Williams, who steps down in December after 10 years in his post, writes: "Introduced in the run[-]up to the last election as a major political idea for the coming generation, [it] has suffered from a lack of definition about the means by which such ideals can be realised. Big society rhetoric is all too often heard by many therefore as aspirational waffle designed to conceal a deeply damaging withdrawal of the state from its responsibilities to the most vulnerable." » | Toby Helm and Julian Coman | Sunday, June 24, 2012

The Archbishop of Canterbury on The Queen's Diamond Jubilee

Archbishop of Canterbury: Children Should Be Taught The Lord's Prayer
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Children are now half as likely to know the text of the Lord's Prayer than they were 40 years ago, according to a survey.

The study, which compared the answers of children aged 6-12 years old and adults who would have been that age 40 years ago, found that children today are less familiar with religious texts than their parents.

However, they are twice as likely to say that religion is important to them compared with those growing up in the 1970s.

Of the 1011 adults surveyed, 931 out of 1011 (92 per cent) said they knew the Lord’s Prayer as a child, while only 571 out of 1040 (55 per cent) of children knew it today.

The Archbishop of Canterbury told the BBC he believed that children should be taught the Lord's Prayer in schools and is worried by news that half as many children know the prayer.

Dr Rowan Williams said: "I'd like to see schools introducing children to the Lord's Prayer, so that they know that it's there, they know what it means and know why it matters. » | Josie Ensor | Saturday, March 31, 2012

Rowan Williams: Fixation with Gay Rights, Race and Feminism Threatens Society

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: A fixation with gay rights, feminism and separate racial identities is threatening to “fragment” British society, the Archbishop of Canterbury has claimed.

Dr Rowan Williams warned that identity had become a “slippery” word and that, while much had been achieved for minority groups, it was time to focus on the common good.

He also attacked a culture of dependence on welfare handouts, which he said was harmful to society, in an address to members of the Welsh Assembly in Cardiff.

Addressing a group of teenagers during the visit, he also spoke about the possibility that Britain could break apart as Scottish and Welsh nationalism grows in importance.

Dr Williams, who is stepping down as leader of the Anglican Communion later this year, has made a series of outspoken interventions since announcing his resignation.

He signalled last week that he plans to use his final months in office to speak out forcefully on issues which on which he feels passionate. » | John Bingham | Religious Affairs Editor | Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Rowan Williams: I’ll Wage War on David Cameron before I Quit
DAILY EXPRESS: THE Archbishop of Canterbury will use his final months in office to “wage war” on David Cameron’s Government over the divide between rich and poor, friends claimed yesterday.

Dr Rowan Williams, who last week announced his intention to retire as the Church of England’s most senior cleric at the end of the year, is understood to be ready to launch a string of attacks on ministers on social policy issues.

Those close to the Archbishop, who has described himself as a “bearded Leftie”, say he is deeply concerned that Coalition policies are worsening divisions within British society.

A source close to the Archbishop, 61, yesterday said: “He is going to wage war on the Government over its social reforms and urge it to do more to create a financial system that sees the strong fend for the weak.”

And a Lambeth Palace insider said: “He is not going to shut up. He will use all the time he has left to speak out forcefully on the issues that he thinks people want addressed. He doesn’t make political calculations, but he will speak out as he sees fit.” » | Macer Hall | Monday, March 19, 2012

Archbishop of Canterbury Resigns: Tributes to Rowan Williams
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: David Cameron, the Prime Minister has led tributes to Dr Rowan Williams who announced today he was stepping down as Archbishop of Canterbury. Here is a round up of the reaction:

As a man of great learning and humility, he has guided the church through times of challenge and change," the Prime Minister said.

He has sought to unite different communities and offer a profoundly humane sense of moral leadership that was respected by people of all faiths and none.

As Prime Minister, I have been grateful for his support and advice and for the work he has done around the world, particularly in Africa where he has taken such a close interest in the Sudan.

» | Friday, March 16, 2012

Archbishop of Canterbury: Wearing a Cross Does Not Offend Non-Christians
The Archbishop of Canterbury has spoken in support of wearing the cross saying that it does not offend non-Christians on the day he announced he was stepping down.

Read the article here | John-Paul Ford Rojas | Friday, March 16, 2012

Rowan Williams Resigns as Archbishop of Canterbury
THE GUARDIAN: Rowan Williams is to step down as archbishop of Canterbury at the end of 2012 to take up a university position at Cambridge


The archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, is to resign and return to academia as master of Magdalene college, Cambridge.

Williams, 61, will leave at the end of December in time to start his new role next January.

His time in office has been marked by a slowly growing schism in the worldwide Anglican church, which he has failed to heal. Williams has been attacked by conservatives for his liberal views on homosexuality and by liberals for failing to live up to these principles.

But he has been respected on all sides for his gifts as a preacher of great eloquence and flashes of clarity. » | Andrew Brown | Friday, March 16, 2012

Related »

THE GUARDIAN: Rowan Williams: from least loved to cleverest man in the Church of England – The archbishop of Canterbury's views on female and gay clergy caused hostility but his intelligence was undeniable » | Amelia Hill | Friday, March 16, 2012

Rowan Williams to Step Down as Archbishop of Canterbury
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, has announced he is to step down after ten years as he admitted that the row over homosexuality in the Church has been a "major nuisance".

Dr Williams, 61, will leave at the end of December to take up a new role as Master of Magdalene College, Cambridge next January. The Queen, Supreme Governor of the Church of England, has been informed.

His reign has been plagued by bitter rows over gay clergy and women bishops that have left him struggling to prevent the Church from unravelling.

Explaining his reasons for leaving, Dr Williams admitted that "crisis management" was not his "favourite activity" but denied the rows over homosexuality had "overshadowed everything".

But he said: "It has certainly been a major nuisance. But in every job that you are in there are controversies and conflicts and this one isn't going to go away in a hurry. I can't say that it is a great sense of 'free at last'."

Dr Williams said his successor would need the "constitution of an ox and the skin of a rhinoceros". » | John-Paul Ford Rojas | Friday, March 16, 2012

Rowan Williams Warns of 'Urgent Issues' Raised by Protests as Third St Paul's Clergyman Resigns
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, has warned that "urgent" issues raised by the protesters at St Paul's Cathedral must be properly addressed as the Dean, the Rt Rev Graeme Knowles, resigned.

He said the resignation, which followed that of Rev Dr Giles Fraser, the Canon Chancellor, was "very sad news" and that the events of the past fortnight had shown "how decisions made in good faith by good people under unusual pressure can have utterly unforeseen and unwelcome consequences".

Speaking publicly about the crisis for the first time, Dr Williams added: "The urgent larger issues raised by the protesters at St Paul's remain very much on the table and we need – as a Church and as society as a whole – to work to make sure that they are properly addressed."

Dean Knowles, the most senior dean in the country, said the cathedral clergy had been put “under a great deal of strain” as they faced what he described as “insurmountable issues” and that his position had become “untenable”.

The announcement comes just days after Dr Fraser stepped down from his post, warning that to evict the anti-capitalist activists would constitute “violence in the name of the Church”.

A part time chaplain, Rev Fraser Dyer, has also resigned citing similar concerns. » | Victoria Ward | Monday, October 31, 2011

Women Bishops Would Humanise Priesthood, Says Archbishop of Canterbury

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Women should be allowed to become bishops in the Church of England to “humanise” the priesthood, the Archbishop of Canterbury has said.

Dr Rowan Williams warned the Church hierarchy to prepare for the “culture change” that would come with the “full inclusion” of women.

Removing the bar to women’s ordination as bishops would help reverse the “creeping bureaucratisation” and “box ticking” that too often undermines the work of the Church, Dr Williams suggested.

His comments came as reforms allowing women to become bishops came a step closer to passing into Church law.

The 44 individual dioceses have until mid-November to hold ballots among members of their local synods, or assemblies, on whether to support plan.

The reforms have already proven highly divisive, contributing to hundreds of worshippers and clerics, including five bishops, leaving the Church of England to become Roman Catholics this year. » | Tim Ross, Religious Affairs Editor | Monday, October 03, 2011

The Anglican Church is already an irrelevance; the Archbishop of Canterbury is in the process of making it more irrelevant still.

The Church has been feminized over the years; and the more feminized the Church has become, the more the pews have emptied.

If Jesus had wanted there to be female priests and bishops, he'd have ensured that at least one of his disciples was a woman. He didn't do this; so it is pretty clear to me that this was not his intention.

Some people will say at this juncture that there were no women disciples because society back then was different. That's true. But Jesus was a revolutionary; so if he had wanted women to go out and preach the Gospel, he'd have made sure that his message was clear that they should. There is no doubt in my mind that this will bring no benefit to the Church. In fact, it will weaken an already weak Church even more.

The Archbishop of Canterbury is a man with his own liberal agenda. It appears that his agenda is more important to him than the survival of the Church.

Christianity is already dying on its feet in this country. Rowan Williams is only helping it along to its final resting place.

The Anglican Church – my own Church – has held little attraction for me for a very long time. This measure to introduce female bishops will make the Church still less attractive to me.

A feminized Church will be a weak Church. And as for his wanting to "humanise" the Church... Hasn't the Church been 'human' enough throughout the centuries? What a load of tosh, bunkum, and poppycock! – © Mark

This comment also appears here

Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan William[s] Set to Quit Next Year

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The Archbishop of Canterbury is planning to resign next year, nearly a decade before he is due to step down, it can be revealed.

Dr Rowan Williams is understood to have told friends he is ready to quit the highest office in the Church of England to pursue a life in academia.

The news will trigger intense plotting behind the scenes over who should succeed the 61-year-old archbishop, who is not required to retire until he is 70.

Bishops have privately been arguing for Dr Williams to stand down, with the Rt Rev Richard Chartres, the Bishop of London, telling clergy he should give someone else a chance after nearly ten years in the post.

Lambeth Palace would not be drawn into confirming or denying whether the archbishop will be leaving next year.

A spokesman would only say: "We would never comment on this matter."

Sources close to the archbishop say he will leave after the Queen's Diamond Jubilee next June and having seen the Church finally pass legislation to allow women to become bishops.

It is understood that Trinity College, Cambridge, is preparing to create a professorship for Dr Williams, who studied theology and was a chaplain at the university. » | Jonathan Wynne-Jones, Religious Affairs Correspondent | Saturday, September 10, 2011

Now that Dr. Rowan Williams is going, it is to be hoped that he will be replaced by a committed Christian in the traditional sense of the word. In my opinion, the most suitable person to replace him is Dr. Michael Nazir Ali. It is to be hoped that he will be chosen. I can think of no more suitable a candidate than him. With the pews in churches emptying more quickly than cinema seats after a bomb scare, the Church needs someone who is determined to bring people back into the fold, and determined to show those who are not Christians that the path to salvation is through Jesus Christ. Dr. Rowan Williams didn't do this; he didn't evangelize. As I understand Christianity, this is a must for any serious Christian, still more so for the Archbishop of Canterbury.

The West in general, and the UK in particular, is being challenged by Islam. Dr. Michael Nazir Ali is therefore the ideal candidate to replace Dr. Rowan Williams, since he was raised in Pakistan, in Karachi, by Christian parents, his father being a convert from Islam. This man is a committed Christian who understands Islam thoroughly. Given the challenges we face, he is the only sensible choice. – © Mark

This comment also appears here

Rowan Williams Condemns 'Frightening' Coalition

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Dr Rowan Williams will launch a sustained attack on the Coalition in the most outspoken political intervention by an Archbishop of Canterbury for a generation.

He warns that the public is gripped by “fear” over the Government’s reforms to education, the NHS and the benefits system and accuses David Cameron and Nick Clegg of forcing through “radical policies for which no one voted”.

Openly questioning the democratic legitimacy of the Coalition, the Archbishop dismisses the Prime Minister’s “Big Society” as a “painfully stale” slogan, and claims that it is “not enough” for ministers to blame Britain’s economic and social problems on the last Labour government.

The comments come in an article he has written as guest editor of this week’s New Statesman magazine.

His two-page critique, titled “The government needs to know how afraid people are”, is the most forthright political criticism by such a senior cleric since Robert Runcie enraged Margaret Thatcher with a series of attacks in the 1980s.

Lambeth Palace is braced for an angry response but Dr Williams, who became Archbishop of Canterbury nine years ago, is understood to believe that the moment is right for him to enter the political debate. Continue reading and comment » | Tim Ross, Religious Affairs Editor | Wednesday, June 08, 2011

Archbishop Rowan Williams Is Dead Wrong about the Killing of Osama bin Laden. He Should Speak as a Religious Leader, Not as a Guardian Reader
TELEGRAPH – BLOGS – CRISTINA ODONE: Rowan Williams feels “uncomfortable” about the killing of Osama bin Laden. The man was unarmed, says the Archbishop of Canterbury, and the conflicting accounts that have emerged from the White House spread confusion and doubts.

Archbishop Williams is a fine man, a good man. But he is dead wrong here. Summary execution, ie killing without trial, is just desserts for some tyrants. And Osama, the hate merchant and death peddler, was a tyrant to rank with some of the worst. His fate should be no better than theirs. Think of Benito Mussolini, who was executed by Italian partisans; he too was unarmed, but only his fellow fascists shed a tear or raised a voice in protest. Adolf Hitler cheated justice by committing suicide, but his death prompted confusion, just as in the wake of Osama’s killing. The febrile atmosphere in 1945, though, did nothing to alter the fact that Hitler was a personification of evil. Continue reading and comment » | Cristina Odone | Thursday, May 05, 2011

My comment:

As hard as it is to swallow, the Archbish had to say what he did because of Christian teachings. We lesser mortals don't want to hear it because it doesn't satisfy our baser instincts. To people who are less than good, sound practising Christians, revenge is more appealing. But for people with a higher calling, his words will find resonance.

In fairness to the man, one could hardly expect him to cheer on the killing of another, however despicable the acts he may have committed. It just wouldn't rhyme with the principles of his calling. Were he to have called for the killing of OBL, he would have been little better than the blood-thirsty imams we read about almost daily, the imams who call for the killing of the Jews and the Kuffaar. © Mark

A variant on this comment also appears here

Related »

Archbishop Says the Church Will Resist Government Moves on Gay Marriage
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The Archbishop of Canterbury has vowed to defend the Church’s traditional stance on marriage against Government moves to introduce homosexual weddings in churches.

Dr Rowan Williams has refused to be drawn on the issue publicly, but has broken his silence to tell MPs he is not prepared for the Coalition to tell the Church how to behave.

He told a private meeting of influential politicians that the Church of England would not bow to public pressure to allow its buildings to be used to conduct same-sex civil partnerships.

The comments are the first time he has spoken since the Coalition unveiled plans to allow religious buildings to be used to conduct homosexual partnership ceremonies.

While the Church has been bitterly divided over the role of its homosexual clergy, he said it held a clear position that marriage is between a man and a woman and would not consider changing this stance. >>> Jonathan Wynne-Jones, Religious Affairs Correspondent | Saturday, February 26, 2011

General Synod Backs Ban on Clergy Joining the BNP
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The Church of England has backed draft legislation paving the way for a ban on clergy membership of the BNP - in spite of warnings about creating ''martyrs'' to free speech.

Members of the General Synod voted to press ahead with an amendment to discipline procedures making it ''unbecoming'' or ''inappropriate'' conduct for clergy to be members of a political party with policies and activities declared ''incompatible'' with Church teaching on race equality.

Under the proposals, Church of England bishops would make a declaration on parties or organisations deemed incompatible with Christian teaching.

Vasantha Gnanadoss, a Metropolitan Police civilian worker, and General Synod member who first won backing for the ban two years ago, welcomed the amendment and a new statement on race equality from the bishops.

This put the Church's mission to ''resist racism'' on a firm footing, she told the Synod.

''It is very important when the English Defence League and others are posing a fresh threat to the well-being of our diverse society. I hope that this statement will be used widely,'' she said. >>> | Tuesday, February 08, 2011

Anglican Church Faces 'Piece by Piece Dissolution', Warns Archbishop
THE GUARDIAN: Rowan Williams tells warring factions to pull together for crucial General Synod vote on church's future

Rowan Williams speaking at the General Synod. Photograph: The Guardian
Dr Rowan Williams, the archbishop of Canterbury, warned of the risk of "piece-by-piece dissolution" of worldwide Anglicanism in a heartfelt personal plea today to warring factions in the Church of England.

At the opening of the church's general synod in London, he called for all parties to put aside their disputes and agree on a fresh framework for settling differences across the 70 million-strong international communion.

The synod votes tomorrow on the Anglican covenant, which has been seven years in the making, and sets the Church of England at a crucial crossroads. The church is already facing probable defections to Roman Catholicism by some priests opposed to the ordination of women bishops.

The covenant was devised in response to divisions caused by the US Episcopal Church's decision to endorse the election of the openly-gay bishop of New Hampshire, Gene Robinson, and it has to be endorsed by all 38 previously autonomous provinces of the communion across the world. The vote will be crucial as not only is the Church of England the mother church of the communion, but Williams is its spiritual head. A senior church official told the Guardian: "There is no Plan B. If this falls, the communion is in ruins."

In advance of the vote – which is technically to refer the covenant to dioceses for consultation – supporters and opponents have indulged in heated rhetoric; liberal Anglicans claimed it would spell the end of individual churches' autonomy and subject decisions of the Church of England to the prior approval of reactionary churches such as the homophobic conservatives of equatorial Africa. Gregory Cameron, the Bishop of St Asaph in Wales, the canon lawyer mainly responsible for drawing up the covenant, likened opponents to the BNP. Read on and comment >>> Stephen Bates and Riazat Butt | Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Churches Lose Their Vicars as Anglicans "Jump Ship" for Rome, Warns Rowan Williams
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, has warned that parishes will be left without vicars as hundreds of Anglicans “jump ship” for Rome.

Dr Williams acknowledged that traditionalists who cannot accept Church of England plans to ordain women bishops were in “considerable confusion and distress”.

But the Pope’s offer to accommodate disaffected Anglicans would leave the Church with “practical challenges” as vicars resign and churches lose worshippers, he said.

Dr Williams’s comments came in his first media interview since The Daily Telegraph disclosed that five Anglican bishops were to join a new section of the Roman Catholic Church established by Pope Benedict XVI. >>> Tim Ross, Religious Affairs Editor | Thursday, November 18, 2010