Why the Archbishop is embracing pagan roots

THE man expected to be the new Archbishop of Canterbury will be inducted as a druid in a 200-year-old ceremony with pagan roots in Wales next month.

Although organisers insist the Gorsedd�s pagan roots are long behind it, contributors to discussion forums on the Church in Wales website have already suggested it is �nearer to Shintoism than Christianity�. Evangelical leaders in the Church of England described it as �unbelievable�. The Rev David Banting, chairman of Reform, the conservative evangelical group, said: �We are concerned that Christian leaders should concentrate on the celebration and promotion of the Christian faith in all its wonder and power rather than dabbling in other things.�

Dr Williams will not be the only church leader admitted as an honorary druid to the Gorsedd. The Right Rev Daniel Mullins, retired Roman Catholic bishop of Menevia, South Wales, is a member. He insisted: �It has no link at all with ancient druidism.� A former Archbishop of Wales, the Right Rev George Noakes, is also a member.