King pledges to defend freedom of religion
The media headlines and chatter are wrong. Even the Church Times got it wrong. King Charles III has not pledged "to protect all faiths". He did not say "I will…
Love of neighbour
The Archbishop of Canterbury’s Sermon on the Crown
The funeral of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II was always going to be a major televised event, and whoever preached the sermon at Westminster Abbey was always going to be gifted with the most awesome mission – quite literally –…
The rising cost of energy is the price of Europe’s liberty
The energy regulator Ofgem has hiked the price cap on household bills by 80%, meaning the average bill will rise from £1,971 to £3,549 a year from October. The average…
Church of England commits £3.6billion to ‘making Christ known’
The Archbishop of York, the Rt Rev'd Stephen Cottrell, has told the General Synod of the Church of England that the Church Commissioners will dedicate £3.6bn over the next nine…
Lucy Allan MP: “Is a Conservative welcome in the Church of England?”
Conservative MP Lucy Allan has challenged the Archbishop of Canterbury directly on his 'robust' intervention in Priti Patel's (presently thwarted) policy to send asylum seekers to Rwanda. "When the Church…
BBC says it’s ‘unfortunate’ the Queen is Defender of the Faith
As the Platinum Jubilee celebrations of Her Majesty the Queen entered their final day, the BBC gave us a running commentary on the Platinum Pageant as it crawled along the…
How many millions of asylum seekers should the UK welcome?
Building on his Easter sermon which condemned (rather robustly) Priti Patel's plan to send Channel migrants to Rwanda, the Archbishop of Canterbury has written a comment piece for the Telegraph…
Why doesn’t Patriarch Kirill excommunicate Putin forthwith?
In the flaming ruins and rubble of Mariupol, dogs are eating people and people are eating dogs. Bloodied corpses line the streets, some covered with dusty sheets for burial shrouds,…
Welby and Kirill demand peace in Ukraine (but woolliness won’t stop war)
The Archbishop of Canterbury and the Patriarch of Moscow have had a video conference in which they both agreed on the need for disciples of Jesus to be peacemakers, and…
Homes for Ukraine: finally, a refugee programme we can be proud of
It has taken a while, but the UK now has a compassionate refugee programme responsive to the crisis unfolding in Ukraine, which is the worst refugee crisis seen in Europe…
The hypocrisy of the Canons of Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford
Yesterday, the Rev'd Angela Tilby, an Emeritus Canon of Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford, was blocked on Twitter by someone in the Cathedral. This wasn't the first time she had been…
Rev’d Will Pearson-Gee: “I am not going to close our services”
As 2021 draws to a close, with Covid mutations multiplying, millions isolating, thousands dying, gas prices soaring, inflation pressing, poverty increasing, Putin and Xi agitating, and the Church of England…
Bramble Welby introduces her human on a BBC Newscast
Bramble Welby upstaged her human on a BBC Newcast this week. "Lie down. Can you lie down. That's a good girl," said the Archbishop of Canterbury. "Nope," thought Bramble. "Not…
You can’t be compelled to love your neighbour
The Archbishop of Canterbury was interviewed on Times Radio by John Pienaar, who asked: "Is it the moral thing to do, Archbishop, getting your vaccination?" "Yes," the Archbishop replied, succinctly.…
Durham Cathedral demands Covid passports for Christmas worship
Durham Cathedral is dividing its flock into sheep and goats for Christmas. The Dean is setting the Covid-vaccinated sheep on his right hand, but the goats who lack an NHS…
Death is the price we pay for freedom
"We cannot have the death of an MP being a price worth paying for our democracy," said Labour's Harriet Harman on the BBC Radio 4 Today Programme. "It can't be…
A ‘Church for England’, but whose understanding of Englishness?
Much has been written about the Archbishop of York's article in the Telegraph, in which he set out his vision for England woven with his preferred themes of Englishness, calling…
Bishop dismisses Matt Hancock’s adultery as “a bit of a fling”
Two marriages have broken down, with all the heartache, tears and loneliness of the innocent parties. One wedding ring has been thrown to the floor in the passion of betrayal;…
Pope meets Spider-Man: when did religious leaders cease being superheroes?
The cynic will say religious leaders were never superheroes (or superheroines), but, of course, they were. The precise nature and source of their superhuman powers may be lost in antiquity,…
Bishop of St Davids says all Tories are duplicitous liars
The Bishop of St Davids, the Rt Rev'd Joanna Penberthy, was the first woman to be elected a bishop in the Church in Wales, and into an archbishopric which can…