AS he was enthroned as the 105th Archbishop of Canterbury yesterday, Justin Welby warned against “severing the roots” of more than 1,000 years of Christianity in Britain.
But he also insisted that the Church must now focus on new battles such as combating global poverty and protecting the environment.
Achieving that balance between ancient and modern will be Archbishop Welby’s greatest challenge, but he showed during his time in Durham that he has the skills to bring people together and plot a path through complex and sensitive issues.
With huge questions facing the Church over its attitude to women bishops and homosexuality, those skills will be put to the test like never before. He cannot appease everyone but he must take as many with him as possible.
It will require humility, patience, and diplomacy. He will need to be down to earth and employ his disarming sense of humour, but he will also need to retain the gravitas his role demands. He will need to lead the debate but listen too. He will need to be a powerful voice and a political challenger but choose his battles carefully and guard against jumping on too many bandwagons.
Here at The Northern Echo, our admiration for Justin Welby is well documented.
He twice guest edited the paper and he’s a very likeable human being.
And, if he makes as big an impact on Britain as he did so swiftly on Durham, he will be remembered as an inspirational leader of the Church of England.
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