Enigmatic life of Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury

By Christopher Howse
06/12/2008

At the age of 11 Rowan Williams explored the church of All Saints, Oystermouth, above the bay at Swansea, to which his parents had just moved. It was an Anglican church in the "Prayer Book Catholic" tradition, and his parents were Nonconformists, but the young Rowan asked them to take him back there.

It was an unusual way into Anglicanism for a future Archbishop of Canterbury. At All Saints, Rowan Williams learnt the Nicene Creed by singing it. His musicality has continued into adulthood, as one factor in the amazingly talented character of today's Primate of All England.

I've been thinking about that complicated character while reading Rupert Shortt's fascinating biography Rowan's Rule (Hodder, £20). Even in 400 pages, to depict the whole man is impossible. the rest image