Nolo episcopari! No, not a Harry Potter spell. It’s a Latin tagline – meaning "I don’t want to be made a Bishop!" – a reaction that has almost become traditional when someone is nominated to significant office in the church.
It’s an intuitive idea: the best person to be given power is the one who isn’t grasping for it. Given how much influence and authority the role entails, perhaps the most becoming candidate for an overseer in God’s church is one who refuses it.
On the day we learn of Dame Sarah Mullaly’s nomination as Archbishop of Canterbury, one can understand that reticence for another reason. Who would want to undertake this role, at this present time? Who wants to exercise leadership of a Church marked by bitter division, numerical decline and financial difficulty? Whatever path taken, thousands within the Church of England, and many more across the Anglican Communion worldwide, are bound to be disappointed. Human judgment will be severe; divine judgment, immeasurably more so: James 3v1 warns that those in the church’s teaching office will be judged more strictly. For these reasons, one can understand wanting to say "Nolo episcopari."
Truth, shame & the search for blame
There was a stream of articles and commentary in the weeks leading up to Jason Arday’s resignation as Professor of …