Archbishop: My jitters over thought of Queen’s funeral
THE Archbishop of Canterbury says he hopes he does not have to oversee the 91-year-old Queen’s funeral.
Justin Welby, 61, said it will be an “enormous” event and “the most extraordinary historic moment”.
In an interview for British GQ magazine the archbishop was asked if he loses sleep thinking he might have to preside over the proceedings.
He said: “I don’t lose sleep and I do hope I don’t have to do that.”
Asked if he thinks about the enormity of it, he said: “Yes I do. It’s enormous whoever does it – God willing someone else – because it is an enormous public event.
“But as a parish priest, at every funeral you think about the enormity of it.”
He added: “I don’t want to get into details because it is not something I want to talk about, but the Queen is the most extraordinary person, one of the most extraordinary people I have ever met, in every possible way. When it happens it will be the most extraordinary historic moment.”
During the wide-ranging interview, which is published in the November issue on sale on Thursday, the Archbishop was also asked if gay sex is sinful.
He replied: “Do you know, we have done religion, we have done politics, why am I surprised we are on to gay sex?”
The archbishop added: “You know very well that is a question I can’t give a straight answer to. Sorry, badly phrased there. I should have thought that one through.”
Pressed on why, he said: “Because I don’t do blanket condemnation and I haven’t got a good answer to the question.
“I’ll be really honest about that. I know I haven’t got a good answer to the question. Inherently, within myself, the things that seem to me to be absolutely central are around faithfulness, stability of relationships and loving relationships.”
Before he was ordained the archbishop worked in the oil industry and is regarded as unusual among clerics because of his business background.
Many of his pronouncements are on the relationship between religion and commercial interests and ethics.
He is unafraid to tackle many aspects of modern life and most recently waded into the debate about transgender children.
The archbishop was responding to a question on the London radio station LBC about Christian parents Nigel and Sally Rowe.
They had removed their sixyear-old son from a primary school on the Isle of Wight because of a classmate who dressed in both boys’ and girls’ clothes.
He said a boy wearing a dress to school “is not a problem” and that he would advise people to help their children to accept their classmates.
He said: “Talk to your child. Help them to understand. Help them to see what’s going on and to be faithful to their own convictions.”