I shamelessly poached this from MadPriest's website, along with his comments posted below which shed some light on the goings on in the office suits at Lambeth Palace."When Rowan Wiliams was appointed, I remember there was some disquiet about the staff at Lambeth Palace. Because of the length of time George Carey had spent in office he had managed to replace all the key staff members with people sympathetic to his own view of what the Church should be. The CofE system does not allow an incoming primate to dismiss the existing staff.
Since being in office the Grand Tufti has had no choice other than to rely on George's people for advice and research. A strong willed archbishop like Carey would be able to cope with this situation and make adjustments to the advice given, accordingly. But the Grand Tufti was chosen for his mildness and it seems obvious to me that he has not been able to stand his own ground when faced with unanimous contrary advice from his staff.
The Anglican Communion is being run by a an unelected steering group that is following an agenda set well before the arrival of the present archbishop."
This all makes sense of something we've found difficult to understand. One of the priests at our church did his doctorate in England and not only studied under Williams, but he and his wife became quite friendly with Williams' socially. This priest is a career changer having been an attorney before becoming a priest. Politically he may be the furthest to the left of anyone I know. He was very excited when Williams became Archbishop of Canterbury.
ReplyDeleteThen came the series of events that seem so uncharacteristic of what John had told us about Williams. John found it all as incomprehensible as we did, particularly the horrible treatment of Jeffrey John. Williams behavior was absolutely foreign to the man our priest, John, came to know during his time over there.
Everything in this series of articles helps make sense out of all of this. And I think MadPriest's graphic says it all.
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