Consecrations aplenty

Every time I’m at university, there is a new Archbishop of Canterbury and a new Pope.  I’ve seen (not in the flesh – the crowds are too deep in Canterbury alone) the accession of Rowan Williams and Cardinal Ratzinger (Benedict XVI) when an undergraduate.  Now, as a postgraduate (who has been very busy this week), Justin Welby and Cardinal Bergoglio (Francis) are installed as respective heads of their churches.  Best hang fire on any PhD then!

Interestingly, although it was on their doorstep and covered by the national news, BBC Newsroom SouthEast chose to eschew any mention of Welby’s coronation.  Usually, if worthy of a national mention, the regional outfit explores the issue in more depth.  But there was a media blackout – only bad news stories on Christianity allowed by the Newsroom’s editor?  They couldn’t completely shut it out, as while interviewing a Tory MP on a government policy, the peal of celebratory tower bells was ringing out in the background – at that time of day, with such jubilance, it could have only have been in Canterbury hailing Archbishop Justin.  Ha ha, truth will out.