Runcie of Cuddesdon, Robert Alexander Kennedy Runcie, Baron

▪ 2001

      British cleric (b. Oct. 2, 1921, Liverpool, Eng.—d. July 11, 2000, St. Albans, Eng.), was archbishop of Canterbury from 1980 to 1991; as spiritual leader of the Church of England, he often stirred controversy with his outspoken views on the British royal family and the government of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. Runcie earned a scholarship to the University of Oxford but left after his freshman year to serve as a tank officer in the Scots Guards during World War II. After the war, he returned to Oxford, took a degree in Greats, with first-class honours, and was ordained in 1951. A number of academic positions followed; he served as a dean of the University of Cambridge and, from 1960 to 1969, was principal of Cuddesdon Theological College, near Oxford. Runcie was consecrated bishop of St. Albans in 1970. As cochairman of the Anglican-Orthodox Joint Doctrinal Commission from 1973 to 1980, he traveled widely in Eastern Europe, meeting with Orthodox leaders in an effort to improve relations between the two churches. As archbishop of Canterbury, Runcie conducted the 1981 wedding of Charles, prince of Wales, and Diana Spencer, but he later publicly criticized the two, calling their union an “arranged” one. Runcie also angered the Thatcher government by denouncing Britain's nuclear buildup and accusing the government of neglecting the poor. Thatcher's successor, Prime Minister John Major, made Runcie a life peer in 1991. Among Runcie's publications were Seasons of the Spirit (1983), One Light for One World (1988), and The Unity We Seek (1989).

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