Ever, our society needs fewer divisions, greater tolerance — and to discover a deeper sense of now
sensible approach — see how things develop, be open but don’t get bowled over or overcome by sycophancy.
“I don’t think outright hostility and the condemnation of half the US population who voted for Trump is likely to do much except confirm every prejudice.”
THE bishop voted Remain in the referendum, along with most of London, but is now keen that we press on. “I don’t see any justification for trying to make invoking Article 50 any more complex than it ought to be. The vote is very important to make progress.”
But he is concerned by insecurity and anxiety among foreign residents in London. He also fears a rise of antiSemitism in the febrile atmosphere. “I spent an evening with the Chief Rabbi. he is pointing to the obvious fact that there is huge anxiety among the Jewish population. There are a number of communities in London who feel insecure. It seems obvious that London is such a lively and prosperous place because we have given a welcome to people from other parts of the world.
“It would be foolish to have an immigration regime that didn’t have an intelligent way of welcoming students for higher education in London and also rec ruiting the workforce we need.”
Does he support
the Evening Standard’s campaign for a London visa? “It is a brilliant idea. Technology provides us with help. The referendum does not change geography. We benefit from international conversation, fertilised by others’ ideas. I am especially concerned by relations with Germany. We have a particularly warm relationship with the church in Germany. The Bishop of Berlin is a canon of St Paul’s.”
But Chartres also sees the growth areas outside Europe. Twenty million copies of the Bible were printed in China last year. “We are at this global crossroads in London, exposed to the global currents. Those currents suggest that faith is more significant in the 21st century than the 20th century. Many of the other panaceas have failed.”
The game-changing boost has come from the international charismatic movement, which has doubled the size of the Church. “We have seen a rebirth of a lively charismatic tradition in South America and Africa. And we have a home-grown element here.”
He wryly quotes the words to John Wesley of the 18th-century bishop Joseph Butler: “Sir, the pretending to extraordinary revelations and gifts of the Holy Spirit is a horrid thing, a very horrid thing.” How will we cope with a second Reformation? “Behold, I make all things new,” quotes Chartres.
As Dean of the Royal Chapel, Chartres has had a close relationship with the royal family, especially Prince Charles. He is relieved that the institution of monarchy has survived the tempests.
“The monarchy stands for a long narrative and we have a modern constitution. With an unwritten constitution we change remarkably quickly behind the theatre. If you look at the Hanoverian monarchy it is really being replicated by the US presidency. Donald Trump is George III, elected for a four-year term.
“The office of president combines both the image of what it is to be American and an effective political power. That conjunction, which was true of the Hanoverian monarchy, has been divided here. What you have is huge power in monarchy, but not short-term, political, decision-making power. What you have is a monarchy that is the area of consensus any society that is going to survive needs to have.
“The Queen stands for volunteering, for fundamental decencies and she is increasingly clear about her own Christian commitment. In her Christmas broadcast she talked of billions of people in the world who follow Jesus Christ, then she said the simple words: ‘And I am one of them’.
“This illustrates both lack of hubris but also clarity of conviction, which is central to the way our particular civilisation has grown. It is a focus of loyalty and affection that lies beyond political fisticuffs. So I would question the idea that America is much more advanced as a society or constitutionally. I would say the fascinating thing about America is how it is attached to a constitution made by gentlemen in the 18th century.”
What of the Christian faith of Prince Charles? Is the bishop confident that the heir who described himself as “defender of the faiths” is true to one? He answers briskly that the heir to the throne has made clear that he was simply talking of tolerance.
Later he says thoughtfully that the figure who can truly be described as defender of faiths is the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan. “Nobody denies he has got one himself, but we have seen clearly how he has been pragmatic and practical about working with communities.”
Has the Prince of Wales’s faith changed or deepened? Chartres chides me for probing hi s confidential spiritual relationship with the royals. He is a man of deep traditions who has resisted some of the modernising elements of the Church of England.
When I ask if he accepts same-sex marriage, still being debated by the Synod, his answer is heavy with Christian reticence. “I shan’t be involved in Synod discussion. I am a bishop and it is a bishop’s job to keep the church close to the Christian tradition, the other parts of the church, not just the C of E. God saw that people should not live alone. Christianity is essentially a relational religion, so I think in any committed long-term relationship there are spiritual benefits.”
SO WHAT does that mean for same-sex marriage? “I am also clear that marriage in the Christian tradition is one man and one woman in a lifelong union, and I think there are perfectly legitimate reasons for underlying that as the tradition of the church. There is no incompatibility between placing an emphasis on the marriage as optimal but not infallible institution for bringing up children and also realising that faithful friendships and other relationships have considerable spiritual benefit.”
Replacing the Bishop of London is an unhurried process and the final say will be between Theresa May and the Queen. It will be interesting to see if C h a r t re s ’s successor is another traditionalist or a reformer.
He issues one final warning and it is about the environment. We meet in a week where pollution levels in London have exceeded those in Beijing and children have been kept indoors. The bishop reports that teachers are taking re spirator y kits on school trips because of high levels of asthma among children: “I was horrified to see that. That was a terrible symbol of a situation that cannot be allowed to continue. It is dire.”
Does he fear the Trump era’s scepticism on climate change? “Was it Mrs Thatcher who said you have to remember the economy is a wholly owned subsidiary of the environment? We are all in a great arc and if there is distress, islands submerged and migration because the climate is unsustainable, the people in the first- class cabins will not be preserved from that.
“I have been committed to that not for modish reasons but because one’s relationship with the natural environment is fundamental. We are acting as if we are the only ones around. Jesus Christ warned us against being tin gods. The effects of living against our maker’s instructions are lethal.”
It is hard to imagine the climax of a carol service at St Paul’s without Chartres’s voice piercing the darkness, or any future royal wedding without him. He may not be the voice of the future but he will always be the voice of the “deeper now”.
@sandsstandard
‘London is such a lively and prosperous place because we welcome people from other parts of the world’