cover image Archbishop: The Life and Times of Robert Runcie

Archbishop: The Life and Times of Robert Runcie

Jonathan Mantle. Sinclair-Stevenson,, $0 (360pp) ISBN 978-1-85619-058-9

The life and times of Robert Runcie, who in 1979 became the 102nd Archbishop of Canterbury and Primate of All England, are composed of mixed fortunes, as detailed in this sympatheticsympathetic in above review biography by a British author. Runcie's liberal stands on such issues as ordination for women and homosexuals and closer relations with the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches often placed him at odds with the English establishment. His later years were marked by controversy over the connection of his aide Terry Waite with the Iran-Contra hostage situation. Although his administration of the Church of England was often under siege, his primacy, according to Mantle, will be looked on as a ``golden era,'' for his successor, George Carey, named after Runcie's 1991 retirement, is ``symbolic of the cyclical priorities of the Church of England.'' Students of church politics and British society will find the biography of great interest. Photos. (May)