Keith Ward

Lost faith

From our UK edition

It is hard not to see the resignation of the Archbishop of Canterbury as a judgment on the Anglican Communion. Here was an intellectually formidable, spiritually profound, morally courageous leader whose job was made unbearable by gangs of intolerant, uncharitable, divisive and squabbling intellectual minnows. The event should give the Church of England, and those most responsible for its future, pause for thought. Is it really going to have to look for a leader who has the constitution of an ox and the hide of a rhinoceros as his chief qualifications? Is it going to have to admit that it is not looking for spiritual, moral or intellectual leadership, because that would cause controversy? There are some truths about the C of E that some people seem afraid to state.