MEDIA RELEASE
Office of the Primate
Anglican Church of Canada
Toronto, July 23, 2002
Archbishop Michael Peers, Primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, today welcomed the announcement of Archbishop Rowan Williams’ appointment as the 104th Archbishop of Canterbury. Archbishop Peers, on retreat in Cambridge Massachusetts, described Archbishop Williams as a leader who “truly deserves to be described as orthodox, a man who is steeped in the Anglican tradition, committed to social justice, and possessed of a singular capacity to interpret Christian faithfulness to contemporary society.”
Archbishop Peers, who has attended several international meetings with Archbishop Williams, praised his scholarly ability and his public presence. “He is able to understand the deep rhythms of Anglicanism, its complex history, and the challenge of its diversity. He is a renowned student of patristics and an acute observer of and commentator on contemporary society. At the same time, he is able to communicate the good news that is at the heart of Anglicanism, using everything from Aristotle to The Simpsons to help people make sense of faith in the contemporary world. He is above all a person of faith and a servant of our Lord.”
The Archbishop of Canterbury is the Primate of the Church of England, as well as Archbishop of one of its two provinces, Canterbury, and bishop of the diocese of the same name. While he has no formal jurisdiction outside the Church of England, he is a personal symbol of the unity of the worldwide Anglican Communion, with over 70 million members on every continent. He presides at the Lambeth Conference, a gathering of Anglican bishops from around the world that is held every ten years, and at the more frequent meetings of the Primates, leaders of regional and national Anglican churches. He is also President of the Anglican Consultative Council, a constitutional body with representatives from the laity, clergy and bishops of all the provinces of the Anglican Communion and of the united churches of the Indian sub-continent.
Link:
Welsh Primate to lead Anglican world
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Rev. Dr. Michael Thompson
Principal Secretary to the Primate
416-924-9199 ext. 277
[email protected]