New Bishop of Chichester
What a disappointment! There we all were naively imagining that the Diocese of Chichester would at last be dragged into the 20th century (the 21st would be a century too far) and it’s back to the same old story. A traditionalist misogynist. Well, who would have thought it?
This Diocese is so in need of someone to love it and begin the hard job of getting people to work together and stop being angry with each other. Instead we get someone who is in the same old mould. The YouTube video about him linked to the Diocesan website is very revealing. Most revealing of all is the almost apologetic way in which John Sentamu speaks about him. After making comments about his contributions to liturgy and his interest in the arts, he assures us that he is a “gift” to the Diocese, but doesn’t really tell us what that gifting is.
Perhaps the most interesting question of all is “why has he left Whitby so soon?” He says himself that he did not choose to come to Chichester but was chosen. Is that the usual required pious comment or is there more? Anyway, I was hoping to be able to remove my description of the Diocese as “the sad one at the bottom of England that expends most of its energies on being against things” but it seems I’ll have to wait – let’s see: he’s 53 and could stay until he’s 70 – possibly as much as 17 years!
On a serious note, this kind of black-clad traditionalist Anglican bishop who is against things that most normal people can’t even begin to see as issues is not going to be a credible advert for the church in Chichester Diocese.
I pray, nevertheless, that I will be proved wrong. Maybe he will be like Peter Ball – a traditionalist who was so different and open-minded that even the most hard-bitten anti-Christian just had to like him.
