Illness ends dream of the downshifting archbishop
Christopher Morgan
September 10, 2006

THE Anglican primate who walked away from his archbishop’s palace to become a humble parish priest is to cut short his ministry on doctor’s advice after being struck down by a series of debilitating illnesses.

Lord Hope of Thornes was widely applauded early last year when he resigned as Archbishop of York to become Father David to his parishioners in Ilkley, West Yorkshire. It was seen as one of the most positive pieces of news about the Church of England in years of division over women priests and homosexuality.

Hope, regarded as one of the steadiest leaders of the Anglican church in the past few decades, had wanted to stay at St Margaret’s, Ilkley, until his retirement at the age of 70 in 2010.

But he has gradually found himself less able to continue after first suffering a stubborn bout of bronchitis last winter and then being diagnosed with diverticulitis, a common intestinal condition. the rest