'Robert Alexander Kennedy Runcie, Baron Runcie of Cuddesdon'
PC MC (
October 2 1921 –
July 11 2000) was the 102nd
Archbishop of Canterbury from
1980 to
1991.
Early life
He was born and spent his early life in
Great Crosby, near
Liverpool, to
middle class and rather irreligious parents. He initially attended St Luke's Church, Crosby (where he was confirmed in 1936), before switching to the
Anglo-Catholic St Faith's Church about a mile down the road. He was educated at
Merchant Taylors' School, Crosby before going up to
Brasenose College, Oxford.
He earned a commission in the
Scots Guards during
World War II, serving as a tank commander and earning the
Military Cross for two feats of bravery in March
1945: he rescued one of his men from a crippled tank under heavy enemy fire, and the next day he took his own tank into an exceptionally exposed position in order to knock out three anti-tank guns - he is, therefore, unique among modern Archbishops of Canterbury in having personally killed fellow human beings. In May 1945 he was among the first British troops to enter
Bergen-Belsen.
After the surrender of Nazi Germany, he served with the occupying forces in
Cologne and then with the boundary commission dealing with the future status of the
Free Territory of Trieste.
On his return to Oxford, he surprised many by taking
first class honours in
Greats.He was a member of both
Tory and
Socialist societies at Oxford, and through that he had his first dealings with the young
Margaret Roberts, a relationship which was to prove pivotal during his archiepiscopate.
Career
Runcie studied for
ordination at
Westcott House, Cambridge where he took a
Diploma, rather than a second
bachelor's degree in
theology. He was ordained in the
Diocese of Newcastle in
1950 to serve as a
curate in the parish of All Saints in the wealthy
Newcastle upon Tyne suburb of
Gosforth, then a rapidly growing suburban area. Rather than the conventional minimum three year curacy, after only two years Runcie was invited to return to Westcott House as
chaplain and, later, vice principal. In
1956 he was elected fellow and dean of
Trinity Hall in Cambridge, where he would meet his wife, Rosalind, the daughter of the college bursar.
In
1960 he returned to the world of the theological college, becoming principal of
Ripon College Cuddesdon, near Oxford, where he spent 10 years and transformed what had been a rather monastic and traditionally
Anglo-Catholic institution into a stronghold of the liberal catholic wing of the Church of England. In this period his name became more and more strongly spoken of as a future
bishop, and speculation was confirmed when he was consecrated
Bishop of St Albans in
1970.
Like Gosforth in the
1950s, the
Diocese of St Albans was a booming suburban area, popular with families moving out of a depopulating
London. As well as diocesan work, he worked with
broadcasters as chairman of the Central Religious Advisory Committee, and was appointed chairman of the joint Anglican-
Orthodox commission.
Archbishop of Canterbury
Runcie was selected as
Archbishop of Canterbury in
1979. Ironically, in view of his future relations with the Conservative government, there is evidence that Runcie was actually the second choice of the
Crown Appointments Commission, the first choice,
Hugh Montefiore having proven politically unacceptable to the then newly elected Conservative government.
During his time as Archbishop of Canterbury, he witnessed a breaking down of traditionally convivial relations between the
Conservative Party and the
Church of England, which was habitually if rather inaccurately described as "the Tory party at prayer". This was due mainly to the Church's pronouncements on political matters and
Margaret Thatcher's support for the ethos of individualism and wealth creation, and her claim that "there is no such thing as society"
[1], which many in the Anglican church thought was uncaring and anti-Christian. However, this seven word phrase, extracted from a 1987 interview with ''
Woman's Own'' magazine
[2], has a subtly different impact when taken within the context of the interview as a whole.
In 1981, Runcie officiated at the marriage of
Charles, Prince of Wales to
Lady Diana Spencer, despite suspecting privately that they were ill-suited and that their marriage would not last.
With a dramatic gesture of goodwill, he knelt in prayer with
Pope John Paul II in the Cathedral of
Canterbury during John Paul's visit to Great Britain in 1982.
In 1985, there was friction between the Church of England and members of the Conservative Government, in particular
Norman Tebbit, over the Church's report "
Faith in the City", which criticised the government's handling of social problems in British inner-city areas. As a result of this, Tebbit became a strong supporter of the
disestablishment of the
Church of England, claiming that institutions affiliated to the British state should not express what he saw as overtly partisan political views.
Much of the middle period of Runcie's archiepiscopate was taken up with the tribulations of two men who had been close to him - the suicide of
Gareth Bennett, and the kidnapping of
Terry Waite.
When Runcie visited the
Pope in 1989, he set out to reconcile the
Church of England with the
Church of Rome. Runcie advocated the Papacy as having a 'primacy of honour' rather than 'primacy of jurisdiction' over the Anglican church, a proposal consistent with the report of the
Anglican Roman Catholic International Commission. The Pope did not go along with this, however, claiming that the Papacy already has primacy of jurisdiction over all other churches regardless of whether or not this is officially recognised and also that the doctrines of the
Roman Catholic Church would not change to accommodate Runcie's proposals.
In terms of internal Anglican matters, much of Runcie’s archiepiscopate was taken up with the debate over whether to proceed with the
ordination of women in the
Church of England as well as the fallout from the ordination of women priests and consecration of women bishops in other parts of the Anglican Communion. Runcie's position on the matter had been described as ''"nailing his colours firmly to the fence"'' – his liberal catholic theology conflicting with his instinctive conservatism. As a result, he often seemed like a rabbit in the headlights, mistrusted by both sides of the debate. The traditionalist wing of Anglo-Catholicism, in particular, felt that he had betrayed them by not becoming a forthright opponent of women priests and resented him as a result.
The church's attitude to
homosexuality was also a divisive issue during this period, although it did not assume the crisis proportions it would in the late
1990s and
2000s. Although in public Runcie stuck to official Church of England policy as set out in the publication ''
Issues in Human Sexuality'', that homosexual practice was not ideal for lay people and unacceptable for clergy, in private he held a more sympathetic view and consciously ordained a number of openly gay men as priests.
Retirement
When he retired as Archbishop of Canterbury, he was created a
life peer, as 'Baron Runcie', of
Cuddesdon in the
County of
Oxfordshire, enabling him to remain in the
House of Lords where he had previously sat as a
Lord Spiritual. He died of
cancer in 2000.
Family
Lord Runcie's wife,
Rosalind, whom he married on
5 September 1957, was well-known as a pianist. He had two children - James Runcie, an acclaimed novelist, and Rebecca Runcie, as well as four grandchildren: Rosie, Charlotte, Matthew and Edward.
Quotation
In the postscript of
Humphrey Carpenter's biography:
: ''I have done my best to die before this book is published. It now seems possible that I may not succeed.''
References
★
Carpenter, Humphrey, ''Robert Runcie: The Reluctant Archbishop''.
Hodder & Stoughton, 1996. ISBN 0-340-57107-1.
★
A Tribute to Lord Runcie of Cuddesdon
★
A Bishop Who Rocked the Boat
See also
★
Richard Chartres
External links
★
James Runcie's website
★
Portrait in the
National Portrait Gallery,
London.
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