In Their Own Words

This book is the first scholarly biography of Geoffrey Francis Fisher (1887-1972), 99th archbishop of Canterbury. Fisher's was a pivotal archiepiscopate. The problems and initiatives of his tenure foreshadowed the major events in Anglican church history and theology in the decades that followed. His meeting with Pope John XXIII in 1960 marked the first time that an archbishop of Canterbury had visited the Holy See since the fourteenth century. And Fisher was the key person in building up the modern Anglican Communion. His work anticipated the transformation of the British Empire from a far-flung imperial domain into a commonwealth of equal states. His frequent travels all over the globe helped to make the Anglican Communion an experienced reality for many Anglicans and Episcopalians outside Britain. The senior prelate whom millions of people around the world watched as he crowned Queen Elizabeth II in June 1953, Fisher has been referred to as the last great Establishment archbishop of Canterbury. After him, British society and the churches were forced to change. Worthy of attention are such subjects as Fisher's intervention in the Suez Crisis and his involvement in debates on the use of atomic weapons. Fisher's time in London, first as bishop of London (1939-45) and then as archbishop of Canterbury, was a period of war, devastation, and rebuilding in the capital city and the nation. How well did Fisher prepare the Church of England for what followed? What were the strengths and weaknesses of his approach to the task of fortifying the church for the future? This biography provides an engaging sketch and a critical assessment of Geoffrey Fisher's important career.