“At its best, the besmirching of John Sentamu has revealed that strand of snobbery which views outsiders as lacking class, diplomacy or civility – in other words ‘not one of us’.” “At worst, it has elicited the naked racism which still bubbles under the surface in our society, and which is exposed when a black man is in line to break the chains of history.”
Given that the prelate in question, the Archbishop of York, is a black man, born in Uganda, this accusation is a very serious one. And it stood out starkly in last Sunday’s issue of the Sunday Telegraph.
The accusation did not come from just anyone, but from Rev Arun Arora, the man who has just been chosen as the new head of communications for the Church of England.
The reverend had actually written these words in his blog about a week ago, before starting his new role; but they still caused an uproar as they were written in the midst of the race to succeed the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, who confirmed about a week ago that he would be leaving his position at the end of this year.
The day after this announcement was made, 62 year old John Sentamu was immediately tipped as the favourite to be appointed as leader of the Anglican Church: after all, York is the Church of England’s second most important Episcopal see.
What is more, the African prelate is extremely popular and even has a column in Britain’s best-selling daily tabloid newspaper The Sun. Born in Kampala, Sentamu left his country as a young lawyer in 1974, to escape the persecution of Idi Amin’s dictatorship and sought refuge in Great Britain. He studied Theology at Cambridge and developed his ecclesiastical career in the UK. He is so English in fact, that on his Twitter account he never mocks comments made against English football.
And yet, as the weeks go by, his candidacy appears increasingly under threat: The bookies have now put him in third place, behind the Bishop of Coventry, Christopher Cocksworth and the Bishop of Norwich, Graham James. But why this sudden fall from favour?
In the message posted on his blog which is quoted at the beginning of this article, Arora openly defines this as a full on campaign against the only black bishop in the Church of England.
In support of Rev Arora’s comments, the Sunday Times also published the opinions of two anonymous Anglican bishops, both of whom are opposed to Sentamu’s potential appointment.
Although they denied that their reasons for this were racially motivated, the transcriptions of the comments they made are somewhat embarrassing: “I think there are also the people who are not quite sure that he is suitable in terms of the way he behaves, he is quite tribal and the African chief thing comes through,” one of them allegedly said.
The controversy over the colour of Archbishop Sentamu’s skin risks overshadowing his true profile as a candidate. He has shown deep commitment to questions relating to peace and justice (there is a famous video of him ripping his collar off in protests against the Zimbabwe’s dictator Robert Mugabe).
He is also well known for his clear stance on questions relating to sexual ethics. For instance, in recent months, he openly opposed the bill on same-sex marriage, an incredibly hot issue in Great Britain at the moment.
He has also spoken out against IVF treatment in the past, warning against the dangers of practices which involve “doing away with the father.”
On the issue of multiculturalism, the African Archbishop warned against an excessive patriotism that destroys the roots of one’s own Country.
The debate surrounding John Sentamu, however, is also in a way a highly emblematic portrayal of today’s Anglicanism. The Church of England with its 26 million faithful is now a minority: Nigeria and Uganda alone have more Anglican faithful than England does.
Not to mention numbers in countries such as Tanzania, Sudan and Kenya. The reason for this is not just geographical but doctrinal: the Anglican Church in Africa and Asia is far less open to liberal ideologies on subjects such as the ordination of openly gay bishops.
These have been the kinds of splits that Rowan Williams has had to face throughout his ministry as Archbishop of Canterbury.
Now, these rifts risk having quite a significant influence on the choice of his successor.