So Rowan is now no longer of interest to the media. He can get back to what he is so good at, being a free academic to inspire people.
And now Eton has provided Prince William, the Prime Minister, the Mayor of London and the Archbishop of Canterbury. I am something of a fan of Eton; and have known some very nice people from there. But what has happened in the last 30 years is that the UK can no longer provide an education which will bring people from the state system to positions of leadership. I have no problem with +Justin: but what this says about our society and church is profoundly worrying.
Giles Fraser in the Guardian today (http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/belief/2012/nov/09/justin-welby-archbishop-infantile-projections?INTCMP=SRCH) made a very good point about the desperate way in which people want a father-figure. The great thing about the Church of England is that Bishops have so little power. The Archbishop has no legal power outside his diocese, and of course we do not depend on an infallible Pope. It allows people the freedom to think without being stuck with a hard line in dogma, but within a framework and tradition.
The problem has been that the accidental growth of the Anglican Communion is that people imagine we have to be like the Roman Catholics. We don't. We could be like the Orthodox and simply be a family with no bureaucracy, office or binding statements. No need for a father figure, just being together as families are.
In the end +Justin needs to encourage people to continue being the church where they are, and the last thing we want is an Anglican pope.
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