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Archbishop of Canterbury’s Honorary Fellowship
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, was admitted to an Honorary Fellowship of St Stephen’s House on Friday 26th October 2007.
In accordance with Oxford University custom, a Citation was read in Latin and the Admission to the Honorary Fellowship was made in Latin, with English translations of the citation and admission made available.
Citation
Hodie domum nostram, nomine etiam coronatam, illustriorem reddimus archiepiscopum inter socios inscribentes, qui eruditione atque pietate egregius in cathedram olim ab Anselmo olim ab Edmundo Oxoniensi ad summum sanctitatis excelsam successit. Mab Cymru (ut lingua ipsius utar), uates apud suos honoratus, ingenium clarum atque eximium exercet tam in profundis ambagibus Scythiorum lucubrationibusque subtilibus patrum antiquorum scrutandis quam in rebus ecclesiae nostrae gerendis. Cum sit ad cathedram sacrae theologiae in hac uniuersitate parumper electus, multi uerebantur ne haec facultas litterarum ex eo ad episcopatum uocato decuteretur rebus cotidianis agendis. Sibi tamen exemplum episcoporum reuerentium atque doctorum proferens quibus tamdiu studuit, omnibus admirantibus se uere Gregorium ostendit qui gregem pascat, et ideo prouidentia Dei in sedem Augustini prouectus est.
Sunt qui mitram episcopalem coronam spineam saepissime fieri gerentibus asseuerant. Haud enim uacat archiepiscopus noster, sicut maiores, non modo otio sed etiam otii notione priuatus. Sed quamquam ratis Augustini sicut Apostolus sursum deorsum in Adriaco iactatur, nihilominus confidimus quia praepositum habemus qui nos ‘confidite’, iubet ‘fides enim mea in Deo haeret’. Et cum Urbs longe trans montes oculos suos leuare debeat ut pium atque doctum inueniat qui cathedram super limen apostolorum praesidentem occupet, nobis tamen Angliis gaudere concessum est quod ille, alterius orbis papa quondam nominatus, e terra tam insigni sanctis atque artibus rhetoricis uia minus praecipiti aduenit.
“Today we add lustre to our college’s name by admitting to our fellowship an Archbishop who by his learning and piety has been an eminent successor to the chair once occupied by such distinguished divines as Anselm and Edmund of Oxford. A son of Wales, honoured as a bard in his native land, his theological learning ranges over the obscure profundity of the Russian mind, the subtle lucubrations of the Fathers, and the pragmatic polity of our own Church, always with insight and distinction. Having occupied for a time the most ancient chair of divinity in this University, he was called to the episcopate, and many feared that the vocation to scholarship might be subsumed by the burden of quotidian administration. However, taking as his model the devout and learned bishops who had for so long been the object of his studious labours, he demonstrated to the admiration of all a truly Gregorian exercise of the pastoral cure, which led by divine providence to the see of Augustine.
“It has been said that the episcopal mitre is to those who wear it most often a crown of thorns, and our Archbishop has succeeded to his office at a time when the repose enjoyed by some of his predecessors must seem unimaginably remote. However, even if the barque of Augustine is tossed like the apostle up and down in Adria, still we confide that we have one set over us who says ‘Keep up your courage, for I have faith in God.’ And when Rome must look far beyond the Alps to find piety and learning fit to occupy the chair which presides at the threshold of the apostles, we English may rejoice that he who once was named alterius orbis papa came to us by a less precipitous way, and from a land renowned at once for its saints and its love of the rhetorical arts.”
Admission of the new Honorary Fellow
Reverendissime Pater, ad gloriam Dei et ad sacrae scientiae hic consulendum, admitto te socium honoris causa huius societatis atque aulae, in nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti. Amen.
“Most Reverend Father, to the glory of God and for the advancement of sacred learning in this place, I hereby admit you to the fellowship of this Society and Hall honoris causa; in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.”
Photographs courtesy of James Bradley.
Article posted: 30.10.2007 11:15:00