Three Anglican clergy from the Lakeside area traveled to Monterrey for the historic first visit of a serving Archbishop of Canterbury to Mexico on August 13 and 14.
The Rev. Danny Borkowski and his wife Kay of Christ Church in Ajijic, and the Rev. Winston Welty and Rev. Deacon Don Snell of St. Andrew’s in Riberas del Pilar joined other Anglicans from around Mexico to welcome the Most Rev. Justin Welby, the Lord Archbishop of Canterbury, and his wife Caroline.
The symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion praised this nation’s Anglicans for their work with “some of those most marginalized by poverty and insecurity.”
During the two-day visit, Welby said Anglicans in Mexico are contributing to “the witness of the Anglican Communion as a whole on global challenges such as food security, sustainable development and climate change.”
His stay concluded a week-long visit to Anglican primates in the region, including Barbados and Guatemala.
The archbishop was visiting Mexico at the invitation of its new primate, the Most Rev. Francisco Moreno.
During his first 18 months in office, Welby plans to visit all of his fellow primates around the Anglican Communion. He says his desire is to build personal and professional bonds, understand their work in a local context, and lay foundations for collaboration over the coming years.
Observers say Welby’s more understated approach, as well as his business and political acumen, will endear him to church leaders. Although reported to be against same sex marriage and the appointment of gay bishops, he is not said to be aggressive in his beliefs.
Born in 1956 in London, England, Welby was educated at Eton College and Trinity College, Cambridge, where he studied history and law. For 11 years – five in Paris and six in London – he worked in the oil industry, becoming group treasurer of a large British exploration and production company. He focused mainly on West African and North Sea projects. During this period he became a lay leader at Holy Trinity, Brompton in London, having been a council member at St Michael’s Church in Paris. He stood down from industry in 1989 to train for ordination.
Welby was rector at St. James Church in Southam, Warwickshire from 1995 until 2002, before moving on to roles at Coventry Cathedral and as the Dean of Liverpool in 2007.
According to his official biography, Welby’s ministry has “blended deep devotion to his parish communities with church work around the world, especially in areas of conflict,” with an emphasis on Africa.
Welby has written widely on ethics and on finance, featuring in books such as “Managing the Church? Order and Organization in a Secular Age” and “Explorations in Financial Ethics.” He was consecrated as Bishop of Durham in October 2012 but served in this senior role for less than six months, in what has been a rapid ascent through the Church of England hierarchy. Welby officially became Archbishop on February 4 this year, succeeding Dr. Rowan Williams, who retired at the end of December 2012. He was enthroned at Canterbury Cathedral on March 21.