wfn.org | ARCHBISHOP SPEAKS OUT ON MORAL VALUES

[a.whitefield@quest.org.uk]

April 11, 1997
ANGLICAN COMMUNION NEWS SERVICE
Canon Jim Rosenthal, Director of Communications
Anglican Communion Office
London, U.K

[97.4.2.6]

ENGLAND: ARCHBISHOP SPEAKS OUT ON MORAL VALUES

(CT, The Times, ACNS) In two articles recently the Archbishop of
Canterbury has spoken out about the importance of clear moral values in
society. The first interview was on the question of cohabitation and the
second, an article written by the Archbishop himself, appeared in The
Times  newspaper on 10 April.

On the question of cohabitation, Dr Carey has warned that unmarried
couples who live together "will bring down the institution of marriage".
The Archbishop made his comments in an interview which was published in
the Radio Times  before Easter. He said:"We don't want to point the
finger at people just so they feel guilty, but we need to remind them
there are moral values worth espousing."

The Archbishop says that "shame" is a very important and neglected word.
"They may cohabit, and in some cases it may be virtually the same as
marriage.  My fear is that eventually cohabitation will bring down the
institution of marriage." The Archbishop went on to speak of the
importance of the Christian tradition:"This country owes so much to
Christian tradition, and we are in danger of losing that if we're not
careful, if we continue with 'do it yourself', and not having a shared
basis for a moral life."

He agrees that in society today there is no one agreed single source of
authority but he maintains that this is a "fundamentally different
proposition from saying that we have no shared values any more."

The Archbishop's article was published at the height of media interest
on the questions of morality and trust in the British election campaign.
His article is written in the light of  a national ongoing debate in
morality and values in the Schools Curriculum and Assessment Authority.
The Archbishop believes that the report from this national forum on
education should be significant for any incoming government because it
shows what are already shared values within society. "I want to
emphasise that the development of such a considerable consensus on
shared values is a major step forward in empowering schools.  We need
these values to be transmitted confidently and positively.  In a society
disfigured by widespread moral confusion and false theories of
privatised morality, that is a most significant prize."