Talk:Robert Runcie

Early life
I seem to recall an interview by the playwright John Mortimer where Dr Runcie revealed that (coincidentally like Mortimer himself) as a boy he used to have to read aloud to his father, who was blind. Can anyone confirm or find a source for this please?

Meltingpot (talk) 21:45, 23 March 2016 (UTC)

The Tory Party at prayer
witnessed a breaking down of what had been the perception (in reality only dating from the late nineteenth century, and never based on any evidence) of an historic link between the Conservative Party and the Church of England,

This argument is just not true, frankly. There is plenty of evidence of an historical link between the Tories and the Anglican church.


 * Torn between their support for the Crown and their deep attachment to the Church of England, which they saw threatened by James II, many Tories chose the latter and invited William of Orange to intervene.--Anthony Seldon and Peter Snowdon, The Conservative Party (Sutton, 2004), p. 3.


 * But lest one overestimate Burke's significance for the Conservative Party, it is worth remembering that his key positions, including support for the...Church of England...had been part of the conservative tradition long before Burke joined its ranks.--Ibid, p. 9.


 * As the first genuinely Anglican prime minister since Salisbury, and one who spoke openly as a professed Christian and of the English nation as a spiritual body, Baldwin probably helped consolidate most Anglican voters--untouched by the Labour sympathies of some Bishops and clergy--behind the Conservative party.--Philip Williamson, 'The doctrinal politics of Stanley Bladwin' in M. Bentley, Public and Private Doctrine (CUP, 2002), p. 205.

The historian James Sack has argued in his From Jacobite to Conservative (CUP, 1993) that pre-1832 British conservatism was primarily concerned with the defence of the Church of England, rather than patriotism, monarchism or economics. I will therefore amend the article.--Johnbull 19:41, 11 April 2006 (UTC)


 * It was less true by Runcie's lifetime, which is what this article must concern itself with. I think the argument is also rather overdone - William Temple had been in Canterbury a few decades before Runcie, and Tory kind of isn't what you think about when you think of Bishop Bell of Chichester, Hewlett Johnson, the Red Dean of Canterbury, Frank Weston, etc., etc.  Gerry Lynch 15:11, 8 June 2006 (UTC)

Image
Can anybody source a licence-free image of Runcie? It just doesn't seem awfully respectful to have the only image on this article as one of his grave. What's the consensus? --Psicorps 11:03, 17 March 2007 (UTC)


 * Add a picture if a good one can be found. Nietzsche 2 (talk) 23:36, 28 March 2009 (UTC)
 * Found one on Commons; I did have one but can't put my hands on it right now. Rodhull  andemu  21:03, 30 September 2010 (UTC)

Death
Which cancer? Nietzsche 2 (talk) 23:36, 28 March 2009 (UTC)

National Society
The article says "Runcie gave a speech to the National Society for the Promotion of Christianity" in 1982, citing a contemporary edition of the Times which is not online so I can't check it. There appears to be no such society. Google returns no results for the stated name of the society if the word "Runcie" is excluded, so I think it appears only in this article and various mirrors of it. Was the National Society for Promoting Religious Education intended instead? Beorhtwulf (talk) 11:37, 10 January 2019 (UTC)

Might it have been the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge (S.P.C.K.)?Cloptonson (talk) 08:52, 10 February 2022 (UTC)

SCOTTISH HERITAGE
According to subject's obituary in The Telegraph (13 July 2000) he was the son of a Scottish electrical engineer. I was aware of his close connection to Scotland and was surprised to find he was not listed in the category of 'English people of Scottish descent'. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Donut186 (talk • contribs) 03:07, 7 July 2019 (UTC)

Archbishop of Canterbury (section): Runcie's position on the matter had been described as "nailing his colours firmly to the fence"[citation needed]
A user's memory is of course not in itself a valid source for a citation, but I hope (1) that my memory is correct, and (2) that it can lead someone to check what I think is the source, and which is no longer in my local libraries (Wirral and Liverpool). I think it comes from the controversial preface written by Gareth Bennett (priest) to the 1988 edition of Crockford's Clerical Directory. I made a point of reading this at the time (in the library of British government department in which I was then working) after the controversy broke out. The municipal libraries I consulted now have only more recent editions, but can I appeal to anyone who has access to the 1988 edition to check this, please, and, as applicable, either confirm or refute my suggestion of the source and, if confirming it, to edit the article accordingly.CWO (talk) 11:29, 7 March 2024 (UTC)