Sounds of Africa and Wales Usher in New Leader of Anglican Communion
Episcopal News Service. February 28, 2003 [2003-000]
Cedric Pulford
(ENI) To the sound of African drums and a Welsh harpist, Rowan Williams was enthroned as archbishop of Canterbury, reflecting his homeland and the importance of Africa within the world-wide Anglican Communion.
The two-hour service at Canterbury Cathedral on 27 February also had a strong ecumenical theme. Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, head of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales, and leaders of the Orthodox and "free church" (Protestant) communities spoke at the enthronement.
Almost all the primates of the 38 provinces of the Anglican Communion were present at the service to mandate Williams, aged 52, as the 104th Archbishop of Canterbury and spiritual head of the Church of England.
Also in the congregation in the majestic medieval cathedral in south-east England was the church's full company of bishops, representatives of world faiths, the heir to the British throne, Prince Charles, and Prime Minister Tony Blair.
The scene was rich in reds, purples, blues and greens with Williams himself resplendent in yellow.
Among the high points of the service was that of Williams taking an oath on the Canterbury Gospels, a manuscript book presented to the see of Canterbury by Pope Gregory the Great (AD 590 - 604) and now valued at 50 million pounds sterling (US$79m).
After taking the oath, Williams moved to the chair of St Augustine, the first Archbishop of Canterbury in AD 597 and who pioneered Christianity in England. In the chair he was enjoined to "open to all people the riches of the catholic faith" - reflecting the Church of England's understanding of itself as both catholic and reformed.
Prime Minister Blair watched the enthronement of the man he had chosen in July last year as archbishop from two names supplied by the church.
A week before his enthronement, in a rare joint appeal with Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor, Williams repeated warnings about military action against Iraq by expressing doubts about the "moral legitimacy" of war. In Canterbury, however, Williams' remarks were strictly non-political as he preached on being re-made by God.
The nearest he appeared to come to a political comment was when he said: "No-one can be written off; no group, no nation, no minority can just be a scapegoat to resolve our fears and uncertainties." He went on: "We have to learn to be human alongside all sorts of others, the ones whose company we don't greatly like, the ones we didn't choose."
Williams legally became Archbishop of Canterbury at a ceremony in St Paul's Cathedral, London, 2 December. The enthronement service in Canterbury was his formal reception and a celebration of the start of his new ministry.
The enthronement fell on the day when each year the Anglican Communion commemorates the 17th century poet and priest, George Herbert. Herbert's Let All The World In Every Corner Sing was among well-known hymns used in the service. Cathedral spokesperson Christopher Robinson said much of the occasion represented Williams' personal choice.
Dave and Dinah Sansome of Victory Outreach UK were among a large group from Wales invited by Williams, who before becoming Archbishop of Canterbury had been Archbishop of Wales. Williams is patron of the Christian charity, which helps to rehabilitate former prostitutes and criminals.
Dinah Sansome told ENI: "He's such an intellectual, yet he has a way with young people. He invited them to throw snowballs at him and, of course, they loved it.