Runcie retires at synod

DR Robert Runcie, Archbishop of Canterbury since 1980, will officially retire from office on January 31, the final day of the next Church of England General Synod meeting.
The two-day meeting, which is likely to include a plethora of tributes to the archbishop, will also include a debate on penal policy in which the government's policy on prisons and the ministry of Christians within the prison service will be discussed.
The synod will also discuss the nature of episcopal ministry in a debate which is likely to he keenly watched by Catholic ecumenists. The question of women in the episcopate, as well as the role of bishops and the nature of suffragan bishops, are likely to be debated.
One of the most contentious issues which may come up at the synod meeting is that of the nature of feminist theology.