Friday, March 16, 2012

Archbishop of Canterbury to Resign.

The Archbishop of Canterbury will be resigning his office to become Master of Magdalene College at Cambridge, January 2013. I cannot say I blame him.

I know several people who have had dealings with His Grace the Archbishop and to a one they report him as a warm, engaging and erudite personage, in other words ideally suited for the academy. But oh in what sorry he state he leaves the Church of England and the Anglican Communion! How much of the blame can actually be laid at his feet is not easy to determine but Canterbury's tale is cautionary one: do not look to academics to lead you out of your woes; consult with them by all means but think twice before putting them in charge.

5 comments:

justinmartyr said...

This is an important point to keep in mind: According to St. Thomas, wisdom is the essential virtue of a teacher, whereas prudence is the essential virtue of a leader.

Young fogey emeritus said...

I don't much care but sure, it wasn't his fault. Just the nature of that game. Everything is up for a vote so factions were/are fighting for control. The moderate mainliners (liberal Protestants) like him vs the super-liberal mainliners (the Episcopalians), Evangelicals (such as, relevant to him, in England) and the, it turns out, wrong Anglo-Catholics, the best of whom of course now are leaving sensibly for the Catholic Church in the ordinariate. I wish him well.

The C of E will probably go moderate mainline (the radicals will just give up church) or Evangelical. (Liberal Anglo-Catholic = moderate mainline with liturgical trappings.) Either way, smaller. Macht nichts to me since both are Protestant.

The Bovina Bloviator said...

Most radicals who still go to church will eventually quit them and God, too. There are simply too many conflicts between Christianity and progressivism. In the end the radicals (and most liberals) will grown tired of wrestling with them and elect to stay home on Sundays. This is certainly the case with the Episcopalians and Anglicans; it isn't only conservatives who are abandoning them.

Amos said...

"do not look to academics to lead you out of your woes; consult with them by all means but think twice before putting them in charge."

Does this apply to the Holy Father too? Joseph Ratzinger was an academic for many a long year...

The Bovina Bloviator said...

I said only to "think twice," in other words, be careful.