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| Rowan Williams stands down in December |
The
Archbishop of Canterbury has suggested he did too little to prevent the
Anglican Church splitting over homosexuality.
Dr
Williams, who retires in December after 10 years, told the Daily Telegraph he
could have engaged sooner with US bishops over gay ordinations.
The
"problem" with the job was that the "demands of the communion
have grown and are growing", he said.
He
suggested a "presidential figure" could be appointed to share duties.
The BBC's
Robert Piggot said deep divisions had dogged Dr Williams' leadership of the
Anglican communion.
The
Telegraph interview was his most candid acceptance of personal blame for the
rift over homosexuality, he added.
Dr Williams
said that during his 10-year tenure he had "at various points,
disappointed both conservatives and liberals".
"Most
of them are quite willing to say so quite loudly," he added.
 |
| The Archbishop of Canterbury has expressed remorse on the split in the Anglican Church over homosexuality |
One of the
biggest crises he had faced was the split between traditionalists and liberals
over the ordination in the US of the first openly gay bishop, Gene Robinson.
"Thinking
back over things I don't think I've got right over the last 10 years, I think
it might have helped a lot if I'd gone sooner to the United States when things
began to get difficult about the ordination of gay bishops, and engaged more
directly with the American House of Bishops," he said.
He added:
"I think the problem though, is that the demands of the communion, the
administrative demands of the communion, have grown and are growing."
He said he
thought it would be necessary in the future to "think about how that load
is spread".
'Civic
equality'
Of a
possible new presidential role - someone "who can travel more
readily" - he said the Archbishop of Canterbury should remain as the
"head" of the Anglican communion and should keep "a primacy of
honour".
But there
should be "less a sense that the archbishop is expected to sort
everything".
He admitted
the Church had been "wrong" in the past over its approach to
homosexuality.
"We've
not exactly been on the forefront of pressing for civic equality for homosexual
people and we were wrong about that," he said.
But he said
legalising gay marriage would lead to a "tangle" between the Church
and the government.
He said
future monarchs may not have as strong a personal faith as the Queen but this
need not weaken the links between the Church and the crown.
"As
far as I can see, Prince Charles is a person of enormous personal interest in
the spiritual life, in some of these big issues of symbolism which he's spoken
about and written about very interestingly," he said.
"But
[he is] probably a little more quizzical, let's say, about the institution of
the Church of England."
And he
called for more Christians to get involved in politics.
He said
"people of faith" must do more "to encourage our own folk to be
a bit more willing to go into politics and get their hands dirty".
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"The Recalibration of Awareness – Apr 20/21, 2012 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Old Energy, Recalibration Lectures, God / Creator, Religions/Spiritual systems (Catholic Church, Priests/Nun’s, Worship, John Paul Pope, Women in the Church otherwise church will go, Current Pope won’t do it), Middle East, Jews, Governments will change (Internet, Media, Democracies, Dictators, North Korea, Nations voted at once), Integrity (Businesses, Tobacco Companies, Bankers/ Financial Institutes, Pharmaceutical company to collapse), Illuminati (Based in Greece, Shipping, Financial markets, Stock markets, Pharmaceutical money (fund to build Africa to develop)), Shift of Human Consciousness, (Old) Souls, Women, Masters to/already come back, Global Unity.... etc.)
"Perceptions of God" – June 6, 2010 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Quantum Teaching, The Fear of God, Near-death Experience, God Becomes Mythology, Worship, Mastery, Intelligent Design, Benevolent Creator, Global Unity.... etc.) (Text version)
“.. For centuries you haven't been able to think past that box of what God must be like. So you create a Human-like God with wars in heaven, angel strife, things that would explain the devil, fallen angels, pearly gates, lists of dos and don'ts, and many rules still based on cultures that are centuries old. You create golden streets and even sexual pleasures as rewards for men (of course) - all Human perspective, pasted upon God. I want to tell you that it's a lot different than that. I want to remind you that there are those who have seen it! Why don't you ask somebody who has had what you would call a near-death experience?
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