Justin Welby apologises
JVL Introduction
Archbishop Welby’s refusal to meet Palestinian pastor Rev Dr Munther Isaac was shocking and disgraceful (see Archbishop’s snub to Bethlehem Pastor).
Now, after widespread criticism, Welby has issued a fulsome apology for his behaviour and will meet Rev Isaac next week.
RK
This article was originally published by the Guardian on Thu 29 Feb 2024. Read the original here.
Justin Welby expresses ‘deep regret’ at refusal to meet Palestinian pastor
Archbishop of Canterbury apologises to Rev Dr Munther Isaac and says he will meet him next week in U-turn
The archbishop of Canterbury has expressed his deep regret at his decision to refuse to meet a renowned Palestinian pastor if he shared a political platform with the former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.
Justin Welby said in a post on social media he would now meet the Rev Dr Munther Isaac, next week.
The pastor of the Christmas Evangelical Lutheran church in Bethlehem, who has been highly critical of Israel in Gaza, saw his Christmas sermon go viral when he said if Jesus Christ was born today it would have been under the rubble.
He revealed the archbishop had refused to meet him in an interview with the Guardian.
Welby said on Thursday: “Recently I declined to meet with Rev Dr Munther Isaac during his UK visit. I apologise for and deeply regret this decision, and the hurt, anger, and confusion it caused.
“I was wrong not to meet with my brother in Christ from the Holy Land, especially at this time of profound suffering for our Palestinian Christian brothers and sisters. I look forward to speaking and praying with him next week.”
Isaac replied: “Thank you archbishop. I welcome this statement, and I look forward to our meeting next week as brothers in Christ.”
Welby had been advised that meeting Isaac would cause significant problems for his relations with the Jewish community in the UK.
Welby received a mixed reaction to his admission of error. Brendan Cox, the husband of the murdered Labour MP Jo Cox, said: “Admitting mistakes – especially publicly – is the sign of a reflective and thoughtful leader. More people in the public eye should be open about the mistakes they make.”
Welby’s original decision not to meet Isaac was described as “appalling” by members of Christians for Palestine UK in a letter in this week’s Church Times. “Dr Isaac speaks prophetically, with moral authority and clarity. In contrast, the Church of England’s position on Gaza has been equivocal and misguided,” the letter says.
When he revealed the cancellation, Isaac originally told the Guardian that the archbishop’s decision was shameful. “It’s not my type of Christianity not to be willing to meet another pastor because you don’t want to explain why you met him,” he said. “This sums up the Church of England. They danced around positions and ended up saying nothing. They lack the courage to say things.”
Isaac spoke at a pro-Palestinian rally in London on 17 February where Corbyn was also a speaker.
Guardian Letters, 27 Feb 2024
Justin Welby must listen to Palestinian Christians
Members of Christians for Palestine UK on the archbishop’s refusal to meet with Rev Dr Munther Isaac after the pastor attended a pro-Palestinian rally attended by Jeremy Corbyn
The Rev Dr Munther Isaac is right to characterise Justin Welby’s decision to cancel their meeting as “shameful” (Pastor says Welby would not meet him if he spoke at Palestine rally with Corbyn, 21 February). The people of Gaza are being mercilessly slaughtered and intentionally starved; meanwhile, our archbishop shuns a Palestinian pastor for addressing British crowds alongside one of our own elected MPs.
Your article describes the House of Bishops’ recent statement on Gaza as “sharply worded”. However, in our view, their position remains equivocal and misguided. For example, their statement persists in treating the situation in Gaza as if it were a conflict between two equal sides, rather than – as is becoming clearer every day – a genocidal assault on a whole population. By contrast, Dr Isaac calls Israel’s actions what they are, and speaks with moral authority and clarity.
Christians believe Jesus lived and died in solidarity with the suffering and oppressed. The archbishop’s refusal to listen to Palestinian Christians, as they cry out for justice, is a grave affront to our faith.
Rev Sam Fletcher, Rev Grey Collier and Rev Mo Budd
Christians for Palestine UK
Considering his intervention in the 2019 GE then I think he should meet the other JC
The one who does not have a racist bone in his body and who has been vindicated time and again over the last 5 years
My first question would be ‘do you support Jews Committing Genocide and do you take any credit for the Holocaust in Palestine
Astonishing to see Brendan Cox making public statement after he promised to exit the public sphere, and no suprise the Guardian publishes it without critical context. See quote.
Brendan Cox “in 2015, a year before his wife’s death, a number of women colleagues at Save the Children where he worked made complaints about his inappropriate behaviour and threatened to go public when nothing was done. In contrast to Assange’s treatment, and despite a social-media furore, for nearly three years there was largely a media blackout on the story. At last, in February 2018, a right-wing tabloid broke the embargo and reported the allegations, and other news organisations had to follow suit. Finally, ‘Cox apologised for the “hurt and offence” caused by his past behaviour’ and announced he was withdrawing from public life.”
https://arena.org.au/julian-assange-and-the-femocracy-by-gavin-lewis/
It’s worth adding that Justin Welby is probably the third Archbishop of Canterbury to apologise for the Church’s role in slavery.
We do have every reason to doubt his sincerity. You can’t apologise for one half western imperialism, ‘slavery’, while championing the other half, ‘colonialism’.
Getting that letter published in the Guardian these days is a considerable achievement. Well done and well said, Revs Fletcher, Collier & Budd!
In response to some highly adverse comments from some of his flock, the archbishop belatedly decided to consult the Almighty, and was informed that he had made a serious mistake. The archbishop has duly apologised. The Almighty is rumoured to have added with some wrath that s/he should have been properly consulted in the first place.
It appears that in correcting the ways of the archbishop the Almighty may have forgotten to point out that all humans had a right to Life and not just Christians – but on the other hand it may just be that the oleaginous prelate wasn’t really listening by that point, as he was late for a meeting with some important oligarchs.