Archbishop of Canterbury warns of 'hero worship' in Easter Sunday sermon

 
The Archbishop of Canterbury, The Most Reverend Justin Welby, delivers his sermon during the Easter Day service at Canterbury Cathedral, Kent. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Sunday March 31, 2013. See PA story RELIGION Welby. Photo credit should read: Gareth Fuller/PA Wire
Wire31 March 2013

The new Archbishop of Canterbury used his first Easter Sunday sermon to warn against "pinning hopes on individuals" in politics and public life to deliver a better future.

The Most Rev Justin Welby said ignoring complexity and humanity left us "unreasonably disappointed" with everyone "from politicians to NHS, education to environment."

He told worshippers at Canterbury Cathedral that setting people or institutions up to heights where they can only fail was "mere cruelty".

The Archbishop, who was enthroned as head of the Church of England earlier this month, also criticised a "hero leader culture" which he claimed led to unfair blame in society.

"A political party gets a new leader and three months later there is comment about disappointment," he said.

"An economy suffers the worst blow in generations with a debt crisis and economic downturn, and the fact that not everything is perfect within five years is seen as total failure.

"Complexity and humanity are ignored and we end up unreasonably disappointed with every institution, group and policy, from politicians to NHS, education to environment."

Failing to recognise human failure in any organisation was "naive", Mr Welby said.

"Put not your trust in new leaders, better systems, new organisations or regulatory reorganisation," he added.

"They may well be good and necessary, but will to some degree fail.

"Human sin means pinning hopes on individuals is always a mistake, and assuming that any organisation is able to have such good systems that human failure will be eliminated is naove."

He added: "Human fallibility recognised, God's sovereignty trusted - these are also the only stable foundation for human beings in society.

"Setting people or institutions up to heights where they cannot but fail is mere cruelty."

Mr Welby pointed to reports on Friday that only 40% of churchgoers are convinced the new archbishop can resolve the problems of the Church of England.

"I do hope that means the other 60% thought the idea so barking mad that they did not answer the question," he said.

"Holy Week and Easter show us the reality of God and of human beings. It is a reality that equips us for action in the world, action that is based on hope and realism, not on cynicism or fear."

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in