Channel: Irish Times

Britain is not a secular country but is “uncomfortably haunted by the memory of religion,” the Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams said today.

The archbishop made the comments during a speech at Leicester Cathedral, entitled Faith in the Public Square.

Speaking to about 400 people from across Leicestershire, he said although British attendance at church may not compare to 200 years ago, the church offered something that could not be found elsewhere.

He dismissed ideas that Britain is “secular” or “religiously divided” were cliches and said: “I don’t believe we are living in a secular society and I don’t believe we are living in a deeply religiously divided society.

“I believe we are living in a country that is uncomfortably haunted by the memory of religion and doesn’t quite know what to do with it and I believe we are living in a society which is religiously plural and confused and therefore not necessarily hostile.”
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I love Rowan, but those quotes (perhaps out of context?) seem very Pollyanna-ish.  It’s pretty clear that a strong sense of Britain as a committed Christian nation is waning as the forces of both secularization and Islamization are at work.

Lenny, so far the only context I’ve found is the full article from Irish Times, which is linked before and after the excerpt.

This page on the Archbishop of Canterbury’s website lists his speeches. It is always worth watching, but is updated only sporadically.

Leicester Cathedral offers this page of archived sermons in PDF, but it’s not clear to me whether the cathedral will treat the Archbishop’s message as a sermon.

If anyone sees a full text, please feel welcome to post it here.