Letter from Cardinal Koch to Bishop Rowan Williams

On 6 September 2023, Cardinal Kurt Koch, Prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity, sent a letter to Bishop Rowan Williams, on the occasion of a conference in the University of Cambridge, England, honouring Dr Williams on his retirement as Master of Magdalene College in that university. Bishop Williams had previously served, from 2002 to 2012, as the 104th Archbishop of Canterbury, Primate of the Church of England and leader of the worldwide Anglican Communion.

The conference, entitled Rowan Williams: A Cambridge Celebration took place on 11 and 12 September, and drew together clergy, theologians, philosophers and other academics, many of whom were former students or colleagues of Dr Williams, to honour him and his contribution to contemporary thought as a bishop, writer and scholar.

In his letter, Cardinal Koch paid tribute both to Bishop Williams’s leadership of the Anglican Communion at a time of great tension, and also to his scholarly work, likening him to St Bede the Venerable [It: San Beda il Venerabile; Fr: S. Bède le Vénérable], who wrote that “study, teaching, and writing have always been my delight”. The Cardinal concluded by praying for “the continued blessing of good health and strength for you, so that that you may continue to serve God and his holy people with the gifts of your estimable intellect for many years to come”.