Excellence in theological education needs to extend beyond England and the Western world, the Archbishop of Canterbury has said.Addressing the media at the Lambeth Conference Dr Rowan Williams said that this was one of his key priorities as Archbishop.
“When I first became archbishop I said that one of my priorities would be theological education --- both in Britain and more widely,” he said.
“That is trying to set in train some of the processes and some of the institutions that would go on delivering real excellence worldwide in education. So that we are not dependent on a small number of particularly northern and western institutions but could guarantee the same sorts of theological excellence worldwide.”
He referred to the efforts of the working party on theological education that was set up by the primates two years ago.
Parts of these documents were included in the Lambeth Reader which was circulated among bishops at the Conference.
The Archbishop later said that he believed decent education and theological education could combat conflict.
He told reporters: “It seems to me that a lot of the religious conflicts we see around the world are intensified by ignorance and prejudiced by the incapacity to get inside the skin both of your own tradition and of others. “Education is a part of making religion a resource for peace rather than a menace, so I would see this as absolutely key to that task.”
The leading Anglican theological institutions are still located in the western, English speaking world.
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