Why did Justin Welby fall so tragically short? Because he was preoccupied with efficiency, not listening | Catherine Pepinster

The archbishop’s resignation for failing to respond to abuse complaints speaks of deeper issues in the Church of England

Catherine Pepinster is a writer on religion and a former editor of the Tablet, the Catholic weekly

When you look at a high-up cleric – someone like Justin Welby, say, dressed in all his finery, vestments trimmed with gold thread and a bejewelled clasp on his cope, as he was at the coronation of King Charles III – it’s hard to believe this has any connection with a wandering rabbi on the shores of the Sea of Galilee with his band of 12 followers.

But Welby and his fellow Church of England prelates take as their guiding light the teachings of that rabbi, Jesus. His words were not all milk and honey. Take, for example, this passage from the gospel of Matthew: “If anyone causes one of these little ones – those who believe in me – to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.”

Catherine Pepinster is a writer on religion and a former editor of the Tablet, the Catholic weekly

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