News for Week Ending 9/12/2011

Archbishop of Canterbury may retire early

Not for the first time, it is being suggested that Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams will retire early. Williams, 61, is not required by the Church of England to retire before age 70. The Telegraph, however, reported September 10, 2011, that Williams is likely to take a position at Trinity College, Cambridge, after the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee next June and after the Church of England has approved women bishops. Other news outlets, such a the Daily Mail,  have also reported that friends of Williams have said that the archbishop is planning to retire. Lambeth Palace had not commented on the story, however. There is speculation as to who might become the next Archbishop of Canterbury.

Bishop Walter Righter dies

Retired Bishop of Iowa Walter C. Righter died September 11, 2011, at 87. Righter is best know for having been tried for heresy and cleared by The Episcopal Church for having ordained an openly gay man when he was an assistant bishop in the Episcopal Diocese of Newark. (The presentment against Righter can be read here. The final judgment can be read here.) For a number of years, Bishop Righter had been living in Export, Pennsylvania, in the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh, with his wife Nancy. For a time, he was a member of Progressive Episcopalians of Pittsburgh, for whom he provided a visible connection to the wider church from which the diocese had been progressively isolated. Righter was an advocate for The Episcopal Church for lay and clergy alike. Episcopal News Service reported on Righter’s death September 12. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported on Righter’s death the same day and is expected to publish a longer story in the September 13 newspaper. The Pittsburgh diocese also published a story on the career of Bishop Righter.

There will be a service for Bishop Righter at Calvary Church on Thursday, September 15, at11:00 A.M.