99th Archbishop

Refreshed by a couple of hours at the cinema, the barrel-chested, slightly bandylegged churchman rode home on a jam-packed London underground train. As he left the underground, he linked arms with his wife and strode rapidly toward the red-&-black Tudor buildings of Fulham Palace, his residence as Lord Bishop of London.

That night, a gilt-edged statement was issued from Buckingham Palace: "The King has been pleased to nominate the Right Honourable and Right Reverend Geoffrey Francis Fisher, D.D., Lord Bishop of London, for election by the Dean and Chapter of Canterbury in place of the late Right Honourable and Most Reverend William Temple, D.D., Lit. D., Lord Archbishop of Canterbury, Primate of All England and Metropolitan."*

Laments and Regrets. The man who will be the 99th occupant of the Throne of St. Augustine in Canterbury received the press around the Christmas tree in Fulham Palace. His Lordship, a bald, long-eared, thin-lipped man, shoved the oldfashioned, gold-rimmed spectacles from his hooked nose to his forehead, jokingly lamented the terrifying job of moving in wartime, seriously lamented that anyone new should have to go to Lambeth Palace just now. Said he: "My great regret is that there should be this vacancy to fill. I knew Dr. Temple from the time when I was an undergraduate at Oxford and he a don, and I am not filling his place now; there is no man in England who could do that."

Actually, it will be a while before he has to. Not until he is enthroned at Canterbury Cathedral some time after Easter--lack of central heating prevents holding the ceremony sooner--will Geoffrey Fisher take over the job he did not want. By his own admission, he lacks Temple's vision and imagination. He will probably never lead a great spiritual revival in the Church of England, as Temple might have done; nor is he likely to say or do anything to shock or upset his fellow Anglicans, as Temple often did. What he will do, few if any of his 40,000,000 Anglican followers seemed to know.

Jobs and Politics. The son of a Nuneaton (Warwickshire) parish priest, Geoffrey Fisher won honors at Oxford by working hard. Ever since, he has had an easy time of it, falling into one job after another. The first was a three-year stretch as an assistant master at Marlborough, his old school. Then he started in William Temple's footsteps: he succeeded him as headmaster of Repton School. Finally, with an agility that left many a churchman popeyed, Fisher in 1932 stepped directly from 21 years of schoolmastering into the Bishopric of Chester.

Fisher did a creditable job as Bishop. He prepared his sermons and church programs with meticulous care, made many good appointments. Churchmen put him down as an able administrator and a conservative. There is so little about him that is reminiscent of his predecessor's eloquent and influential liberalism that many wondered last week if the appointment meant that the Church of England was swinging back from the brief near-socialism of William Temple to the Toryism of Cosmo Gordon Lang.

Fisher has worked as hard as Temple for cooperation among the Christian churches. A better administrator, he may prove more effective than his predecessor in this respect. Another asset is his adroit ness and tact, which he used effectively in piloting through the Church Assembly a complicated measure to reorganize par ish boundaries. And he is no stuffed shirt. He once organized a football team, called "Lambeth United," played on it with his six sons. Another time he appeared in Chester town square, bishop's gaiters & all, grinding a hand organ to help raise money for the Royal Infirmary.

Yet, on the whole, he remains an unknown quantity. Said the Manchester Guardian last week: "His opinions on many great questions are still hidden, for he has spoken little and written less . . . Dr. Fisher has still to prove himself." Even his churchmanship is uncertain, as the distinguished liberal church journalist Sidney Dark caustically noted: "I have no idea whether Dr. Fisher is high or low or broad."

*Choosing an Anglican Archbishop is almost entirely a Government function. The Prime Minister consults with the Archbishop of York and other churchmen (in this case including Lord Lang. Temple's predecessor), recommends one of their suggestions to the King.

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