The new story in the Middle East and North Africa region is only one year young and it will take a long time before we can pass any definitive judgments about its successes and failures, says regional commentator Dr Harry Hagopian. Here he reviews the recent House of Lords debate initiated by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, adding further commentary and elucidation for observers, journalists and policy-makers.
The protest at St Paul's was seen by an unexpectedly large number of people as the expression of a widespread and deep exasperation with the financial establishment that shows no sign at all of diminishing, says Archbishop Rowan Williams, as he goes on to back practical, morally based measures to address the economic crisis - including the Robin Hood Tax on financial transactions.
The Archbishop of Canterbury is planning to visit Zimbabwe in October as part of a wider trip to Africa and hopes to meet with President Robert Mugabe.
The Church is “the visible sign of a faithful God”, declared the Archbishop of Canterbury. He was speaking at the Church of England’s General Synod on 9 July 2011, in York. He expressed the view that those present were “entrusted with the strength not to abandon and the joy of knowing ourselves not abandoned.”
In a frankly inept example of a newspaper with a huge axe to grind engineering the story it then reports, the Daily Mail yesterday (9 June 2011) attempted to create a 'holy war' between the leaders of England's Anglican and Catholic communities over David Cameron's 'Big Society' - presumably with the aim of defending the latter.