Discourse of Dr Rowan Williams

on the'Cat Sat On The Mat'

Beyond the specific issues that may or may not arise in relation to the practicalities of recognition or delegation concerning "the", we must inevitably look to other areas, in other frameworks of life, wherein a "the" is employed. I am, myself, widely believed to be "The" Archbishop of Canterbury. Whether this is or is not the case - and one can imagine circumstances in which it both was and, at the same time, was not - must remain a discussion beyond the confines of this disquisition. But if ever I am called upon to describe myself as "The" Archbishop of Canterbury, I do so not in the sense that I am in any way singular in comparison to other Archbishops of Canterbury, past, present or future, but rather in the sense that I am, at this precise moment in the space/time continuum, the - or more precisely "The" - Archbishop of Canterbury.

But in a very real sense, not one of the Catholic ones.

Coming next week, The Sharia court sits in judgement. Sharia and Dr Williams have this in common- eccentric judgement.