The Right Reverend and Right Honourable George Leonard Carey, Baron Carey of Clifton, PC (born 13 November 1935), was the 103rd Archbishop of Canterbury, from 1991 to 2002. He was the first modern holder not to have attended Oxford or Cambridge University. His time as Archbishop saw the Church of England allow the ordination of women priests. It also saw polarisation of attitudes to homosexuality at the Lambeth Conference of 1998, in which he supported a resolution "rejecting homosexual practice as incompatible with Scripture". This resolution is at the heart of current divisions within the Anglican Communion on the issue. The Reverend is an honorary prefix to the names of most Christian clergy and ministers. ... The Right Honourable (abbreviated The Rt Hon. ... Her Majestys Most Honourable Privy Council is a body of advisors to the British Sovereign. ... November 13 is the 317th day of the year (318th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 48 days remaining. ... 1935 (MCMXXXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Arms of the see of Canterbury The Archbishop of Canterbury is the senior clergyman of the established Church of England and symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion. ... 1991 (MCMXCI) is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 2002 (MMII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The University of Oxford, located in the city of Oxford, England, is the oldest university in the English-speaking world. ... The University of Cambridge is the second-oldest university in the English-speaking world, with one of the most selective sets of entry requirements in the United Kingdom. ... The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England, and acts as the mother and senior branch of the worldwide Anglican Communion, as well as a founding member of the Porvoo Communion. ... Ordination is the process in which clergy become authorized by their religious denomination and/or seminary to perform religious rituals and ceremonies. ... Feminist theology is a movement, generally in the Western religious traditions (mostly Christianity and Judaism), to reconsider the traditions, practices, scriptures, and theologies of those religions from a feminist perspective. ... 1998 (MCMXCVIII) is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean. ...

George Carey was born in the East End of London. He failed his eleven plus and attended Bifrons Secondary Modern School, Barking before leaving at the age of 15. He worked for the London Electricity Board as an office boy, before doing his National Service at 18 in the RAF, during which he served in Iraq. The term East End is most commonly used to refer to the East End of London. ... The Eleven Plus was an examination given to students in their last year of primary education in the United Kingdom under the Tripartite System. ... Barking is the principal town in the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham. ... National Service was the name given to the system of military conscription employed in Great Britain between 1949 and 1960. ... The Royal Air Force (often abbreviated to RAF) is the air force branch of the British Armed Forces. ...

He became a Christian at 17, when he attended church with his friends: "I had a conversion experience which was very real... There were no blinding lights, simply a quiet conviction I had found something," he later said. The history of Christianity is difficult to extricate from that of the European West (and several other culture-regions) in general. ... A church building (or simply church) is a building used in Christian worship. ...

During his National Service he decided to seek ordination and after his discharge he studied intensely, gaining 6 O-levels and 3 A-levels in 15 months, before attending King's College London. He graduated in 1962 with a Bachelor of Divinity degree and was ordained. Ordination is the process in which clergy become authorized by their religious denomination and/or seminary to perform religious rituals and ceremonies. ... A military discharge is given when a member of the armed forces is released from their obligation to serve. ... The General Certificate of Education or GCE was introduced in England, Wales and Northern Ireland in 1951, replacing the older SC and HSC. It was intended to cater for the increased range of subjects available to pupils since the raising of the school leaving age from 14 to 15 in... An A-level, short for Advanced Level, is a General Certificate of Education usually taken during Further Education and after GCSEs. ... Kings College London in London is the largest and second longest member college in the federal University of London, with 21,300 registered students (2003-04). ... 1962 (MCMLXII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... A Bachelor of Divinity is an undergraduate academic degree awarded for a courses taken in the study of divinity or related disciplines, such as theology or, rarely, religious studies. ... Ordination is the process in which clergy become authorized by their religious denomination and/or seminary to perform religious rituals and ceremonies. ...

He was a curate at St Mary's Islington, worked at Oak Hill Theological College and St John's Nottingham and became vicar of St Nicholas' Church, Durham in 1975. Within two years he had trebled the congregation. He later wrote a book on his experiences there called "The Church in the Market Place". From the Latin curatus (compare Curator), a curate is a person who is invested with the care, or cure (cura), of souls of a parish. ... Oak Hill Theological College is located on Chase Side in Southgate, London, England. ... 1975 (MCMLXXV) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1975 calendar). ...

In 1982 he was appointed as Principal of Trinity College, Bristol, and was appointed as Bishop of Bath and Wells in 1988. He was enthroned as the 103rd Archbishop of Canterbury on 19 April 1991. It is reported that he delayed his retirement (which took place on 31 October 2002), as Queen Elizabeth II asked him to stay until after her Golden Jubilee celebrations. 1982 (MCMLXXXII) is a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Trinity College, Bristol is a theological training college affiliated to the Anglican Church in Stoke Bishop, a prosperous suburb in Bristol, next to the University of Bristols residential halls. ... The Bishop of Bath and Wells is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Bath and Wells in the Province of Canterbury. ... 1988 (MCMLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on a Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... April 19 is the 109th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (110th in leap years). ... 1991 (MCMXCI) is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... October 31 is the 304th day of the year (305th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 61 days remaining, as the final day of October. ... Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor), born 21 April 1926, is the Queen regnant of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Antigua and Barbuda... A Golden Jubilee is a celebration held to mark a 50th anniversary. ...

George Carey is a member of the Evangelical section of the Church of England. He strongly supported the ordination of women, even denouncing opponents of it as heretics. He opposed homosexual relationships amongst members of the clergy, but has since admitted that he ordained two bishops whom he suspected of having same-sex partners. He presided over the Lambeth Conference of 1998 and supported the resolution which uncompromisingly rejected all homosexual practice as "incompatible with scripture". But he has supported secular same-sex partnerships, as long as they are not called marriages and are not blessed in church. The word evangelicalism usually refers to a tendency in diverse branches of Protestantism, typified by an emphasis on evangelism, a personal experience of conversion, biblically-oriented faith, and a belief in the relevance of Christian faith to cultural issues. ... Heresy, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, is a theological or religious opinion or doctrine maintained in opposition, or held to be contrary, to the ‘catholic’ or orthodox doctrine of the Christian Church, or, by extension, to that of any church, creed, or religious system, considered as orthodox. ... Homosexuality is a sexual orientation characterized by esthetic attraction, romantic love, or sexual desire exclusively for another of the same sex. ... Clergy is the generic term used to describe the formal religious leadership within a given religion. ... A bishop is an ordained member of the Christian clergy who, in certain Christian churches, holds a position of authority. ... This article concerns secularity, that is, being secular, in various senses. ...

As Archbishop, he was also active in inter-faith work, and worked for better relations with Muslims, calling for "deeper dialogue" between the two faiths. However, on 25 March 2004 he made a strongly worded speech, attacking the lack of democracy and innovation in Muslim countries. He criticised the lack of critical scholarship toward the Qur'an and said that moderate Muslims should "resist strongly" the take-over of Islam by extremists. He was also very critical that the majority of Muslims, despite not supporting the extremists, did not denounce them. Islām is described as a dīn, meaning way of life and/or guidance. Six articles of belief There are six basic beliefs shared by all Muslims: 1. ... March 25 is the 84th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (85th in leap years). ... 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Islamic world is the world-wide community of those who identify with Islam, known as Muslims, and who number approximately one-and-a-half billion people. ... The Quran (Arabic , literally the recitation; also called or The Noble Quran; also transliterated Quran, Koran, and less commonly Alcoran) is the holy book of Islam. ...

This speech was widely interpreted as an outspoken attack on Islam, but George Carey has since defended it saying "Those who took the trouble to read my lecture will have noted that I was as critical of the West, of Christianity and, for that matter, also sharply critical of Israel's policy with respect to Palestine."

George Carey is also the first Archbishop of Canterbury to publish his memoirs, entitled "Know the Truth". These talk about his time as Archbishop, and include details about the British royal family, including his private meetings with Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles. In it he calls for them to marry. These revelations have been widely criticised. The Prince of Wales The Prince Charles, Prince of Wales (Charles Philip Arthur George Mountbatten-Windsor) (born 14 November 1948), is the eldest son of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. ... Camilla Parker Bowles (born July 17 1947) was mistress, now girlfriend, of Charles, Prince of Wales. ...

Select bibliography

• 1984: The Church in the Marketplace - details how he transformed a parish church in Durham.

• 1986: The Gate of Glory - a study of Christian doctrines of the crucifixion.

• 1989: The Great God Robbery

• 1998: Canterbury Letters to the Future

• 2004: Know the Truth - autobiography

1984 (MCMLXXXIV) is a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1986 (MCMLXXXVI) is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Crucifixion is an ancient method of execution, where the victim was tied or nailed to a large wooden cross (Latin: crux) and left to hang there until dead. ... 1989 (MCMLXXXIX) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1998 (MCMXCVIII) is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean. ... 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

External links

• Archive of Archbishop Carey