Williams and Benedict

Since the Pope has been in England this week, there are natural comparisons being drawn between him and the leader of the Church of England, Rowan Williams.

Conventional wisdom might suggest that there could hardly be two more different Christian leaders in today's Church than Pope Benedict XVI and Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams. Benedict has been called "God's rotweiler" because of his perceived role as the dogmatic enforcer of pure doctrine. Rowan Williams on the other hand has been accused of wishy-washy halting leadership as the Anglican Communion moves (stumbles?) through its present crisis of authority.

Yet, for all their genuine differences, Benedict and Rowan share many striking similarities in their influences and ways of thinking, according to this really fascinating article from UK's "The Tablet." Check it out!

Note on the bottom picture: Abp. Rowan Williams (left) co-presiding at Holy Communion at the recent conference of African Anglican bishops. Celebrating with him (to the right) is Archbishop Robert Duncan, leader of the newly-formed Anglican Church in North America (ACNA), the orthodox alternative to the Episcopal Church. Since it is the ambition of the ACNA to replace the Episcopal Church as the "official" expression (in communion with Canterbury) of Anglicanism in North America, I think this is really interesting image, since these two are clearly acting as if in full communion here.