Rowan Williams: podcast appearances and interviews

Rowan Douglas Williams, Baron Williams of Oystermouth, born on 14 June 1950, is a Welsh Anglican bishop, theologian, and poet. He served as the 104th Archbishop of Canterbury from 2002 to 2012. Prior to his primacy, Williams was the Bishop of Monmouth and the Archbishop of Wales. He was notably the first Archbishop of Canterbury in modern times not to be appointed from within the Church of England. During his tenure as Archbishop, Williams aimed to maintain dialogue within the Anglican Communion amidst divisions over issues such as homosexuality and the ordination of women. His leadership included endeavors to foster unity during contentious debates, including the rejection of his proposed Anglican Covenant by a majority of dioceses and an unsuccessful effort to secure approval for the ordination of women as bishops in the Church of England. Before becoming Archbishop, Williams spent much of his career as an academic at the universities of Cambridge and Oxford, speaking three languages and reading at least nine. After retiring from the position at Canterbury on 31 December 2012, he was created a life peer as Baron Williams of Oystermouth to continue his engagement in the House of Lords as a crossbencher. He delivered the Gifford Lectures at the University of Edinburgh in 2013 and served as Master of Magdalene College, Cambridge, from 2013 to 2020. In 2014, he became the chancellor of the University of South Wales. Williams retired from both the House of Lords and Magdalene College in 2020 and resided in Abergavenny, returning to his former Diocese of Monmouth.