Op Ed

 When a person in high office states that they have no intention of resigning you can be pretty sure they're already half way out the door.

With their dear friends holding it open for them and suggesting that they'd feel much better for a breath of fresh air.

A version of this little drama has just played out in the case of the Archbishop of Canterbury- the executive head of an organisation in which I take an interest for historical reasons- and which has recently been shown to have closed ranks round a prolific abuser,  covering up his doings and allowing him to slip away to continue his abusing in another country.

The extent to which the Archbishop was personally responsible for this particular wickedness is unclear. I reckon he behaved as people embedded in organisations almost always behave- which is to put the reputation of the organisation above all other considerations. 

 And as always the organisation has suffered more from the cover-up than it would have done if the rottenness had been exposed and excised at once. 

Earlier Archbishops of Canterbury have been cut down at the altar, murdered by mobs, judicially decapitated and burned at the stake for heresy- but this may be the first time one has resigned because of his mismanagement of scandal. Archbishop Welby has done the honourable thing. Other, lesser,  bishops- some more deeply implicated in the mess than he was- are being urged to follow.

Footnote

 This is just to make it clear I'm not presuming to judge Archbishop Welby.

Had I been in his shoes (perish the thought!) I would have done no better- and probably far worse. I wrote the last post in something approaching the style of a newspaper editorial- detached, dispassionate, impersonal. It has its uses and virtues but is liable to convey the impression that the writer is possessed of far greater wisdom and tougher moral fibre than they actually are....