| The Most Revd and Rt Hon William Temple |
|
|---|---|
| Archbishop of Canterbury | |
| Province | Canterbury |
| Diocese | Canterbury |
| Appointed | 1 April 1942 (nominated) |
| Enthroned | 17 April 1942 (confirmed) |
| Reign ended | 26 October 1944 |
| Predecessor | Cosmo Lang |
| Successor | Geoffrey Fisher |
| Orders | |
| Consecration | 25 January 1921 |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 15 October 1881 Exeter, England |
| Died | 26 October 1944 (aged 63) Westgate-on-Sea, Kent |
| Buried | Canterbury Cathedral |
| Nationality | English |
| Denomination | Church of England |
| Previous post | Bishop of Manchester, Archbishop of York |
William Temple (15 October 1881 – 26 October 1944) was a priest in the Church of England. He served as Bishop of Manchester (1921–29), Archbishop of York (1929–42), and Archbishop of Canterbury (1942–44).
A renowned teacher and preacher, Temple is perhaps best known for his 1942 book Christianity and Social Order, which set out an Anglican social theology and a vision for what would constitute a just post-war society. He is also noted for being one of the founders of the Council of Christians and Jews in 1942.
Contents |
Temple was born in 1881 in Exeter, England, the second son of Archbishop Frederick Temple (1821–1902). From an early age, he suffered from gout and a cataract which left him blind at age 40. He was educated at Rugby School and Balliol College, Oxford, where he obtained a double first in classics and served as president of the Oxford Union.
After graduation, he became fellow and lecturer in Philosophy at Queen's College, Oxford from 1904–1910 and was ordained priest in 1909. Between 1910 and 1914 he was Headmaster of Repton School after which he returned to being a full time clergyman, becoming Bishop of Manchester in 1921 and Archbishop of York in 1929. During his life, Temple wrote constantly and completed his largest philosophical work, Mens Creatrix (“The Creative Mind”) in 1917. In 1932–33, he gave the Gifford Lectures, published in 1934 as Gifford Lectures, Nature, Man, and God.
In 1942, Temple became Archbishop of Canterbury. In the same year he published Christianity and Social Order. The work attempted to marry faith and socialism and rapidly sold around 140,000 copies.[1]
Temple defended the working-class movement and supported economic and social reforms.[2] As the first President (1908–1924) of the Workers' Educational Association he was a member of the Labour Party from 1918 to 1925. He was chairman of an international and interdenominational Conference on Christian Politics, Economics and Citizenship held in 1924 and participated in the ecumenical movement. He was the Anglican delegate to the Lausanne Conference of 1927, and helped prepare the World Conference of Churches in Edinburgh, 1937. Temple was also influential in bringing together the various churches of the country to support the Education Act of 1944. His influence also led to the formation of the British Council of Churches and the World Council of Churches.
Against the background of persecution of Jewish people during the World War II, Temple jointly founded with Chief Rabbi Joseph Hertz the Council of Christians and Jews to combat anti-Semitism and other forms of prejudice in Britain. In March 1943, Temple addressed the House of Lords in which urged action to be taken on the atrocities being carried out by Nazi Germany. He said:
| “ | My chief protest is against procrastination of any kind. ... The Jews are being slaughtered at the rate of tens of thousands a day on many days. ... It is always true that the obligations of decent men are decided for them by contingencies which they did not themselves create and very largely by the action of wicked men. The priest and the Levite in the parable were not in the least responsible for the traveller's wounds as he lay there by the roadside and no doubt they had many other pressing things to attend to, but they stand as the picture of those who are condemned for neglecting the opportunity of showing mercy. We at this moment have upon us a tremendous responsibility. We stand at the bar of history, of humanity and of God.[3] | ” |
Temple drew criticism from his numerous Quaker connections, by writing an introduction to "Christ and Our Enemies" which did not condemn the Allied carpet bombing of Germany citing the fact that he was "not only non-pacifist but anti-pacifist".[4]
In 1944, he published The Church Looks Forward (1944). He also publicly supported a negotiated peace, as opposed to the unconditional surrender that the Allied leaders were demanding.
A visit to Normandy during Operation Overlord in the summer of 1944 made Temple the first Archbishop of Canterbury to go into battle since the Middle Ages.[5]
William Temple died at Westgate-on-Sea, Kent on 26 October 1944. He was cremated at Charing Crematorium, Kent. Dr. Temple was the first Primate of All England to be cremated and his cremation had an immense effect upon the opinion of church people not only in his country, but also throughout the whole Anglican community. His ashes are buried on the south side of Corona at his cathedral. A house at Tenison's School is named after him. There is a memorial to him at the parish church of St George in Bicknoller, Somerset where he spent his holidays from 1933–1944.[6].
He has a high school named after him: Archbishop Temple High School in Fulwood, Preston. The former William Temple College in Manchester and Archbishop William Temple CoE Primary School in Hull were also named after him. An International Student Residence in London, William Temple House, also bears his name.
Temple is honoured in the Church of England and in the Episcopal Church (USA) on 6 November.
| Church of England titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Edmund Knox |
Bishop of Manchester 1921–1929 |
Succeeded by Guy Warman |
| Preceded by Cosmo Lang |
Archbishop of York 1928–1942 |
Succeeded by Cyril Garbett |
| Archbishop of Canterbury 1942–1944 |
Succeeded by Geoffrey Fisher |
|
| Academic offices | ||
| Preceded by Lionel Ford |
Headmaster of Repton School 1910–1914 |
Succeeded by Geoffrey Fisher |
|}