Letter: Leadership and priorities in the Church of England

Sir: It is sad to see Michael De-la- Noy arriving too late for the wrong party ('Dear George Carey', 6 January). For most people, the time for wine and cheese and boot the archbishop around is over. Dr Carey's visit to the Sudan has been widely recognised as an important and courageous act of pastoral responsibility.

To launch into such trivial criticism of him immediately after his return from such a visit shows an impeccable lack of timing. Has Mr De-la-Noy asked himself whether the desperate and forgotten people of the Sudan think that the

archbishop spends too much time overseas?

Is an Act of Synod really more important than civil war and starvation in other parts of the world?

One of the achievements of the Archbishop of Canterbury's first years in office has been the establishing of a partnership with the Archbishop of York which has given great strength to the leadership of the Church of England

and increased freedom to both

archbishops.

To suggest that Dr Carey has 'abdicated to the Archbishop of York the primary task for which he was selected, that of sorting out the ordination of women', only indicates that Mr De-la-Noy has very little understanding of either collective leadership or of priorities.

Yours sincerely,

PHILIP CROWE

Principal

Salisbury and Wells

Theological College

Salisbury

6 January