1 FEBRUARY 1975, Page 3

Enthronement: ecumenical established and evangelical

At the time it became known that Michael Ramsey was to retire from the chair of St Augustine, The Spectator urged that his chosen successor should be ecumenical in outlook and resistant to the views of those Who seek to disestablish the Church of England. Dr Coggari, enthroned last Friday at Canterbury as the 101st Primate of All England in the presence of three cardinals and many dignitaries from other orthodoxies, demonstrated that the ecumenical course set by Michael Ramsey is to continue. The presence for the first time of the Prince of Wales and other members of the royal family in the great congregation displayed the nature of an established faith, bridging church and state.

Christians are especially fortunate at a time when there seems to be a deep longing for a revival of faith that the Church has, both in the Archbishop and indeed in his younger successor at York, evangelical churchmen who see prayer and the gospel as the first duty of a prelate.