George Carey talks to Adrian Daffern
Gibraltar Lecture: Moral Dilemmas of the 21st Century
Saturday 27 September 2014
11:00am
1 Hour
DurationSt Mary Magdalene Church
Venue£11
Ticket priceFor the inaugural lecture, former Archbishop of Canterbury Lord Carey talks to Canon Adrian Daffern about some of the major moral dilemmas of the 21st century including the current and controversial debate over assisted dying, in the inaugural Gibraltar Lecture. It recently emerged that Carey was supporting moves to legalise assisted dying in stark contrast to the official line of the Church of England and his previous public statements. He now argues that upholding the sanctity of human life without regard to suffering caused in the process goes against the spirit of Christian teaching. In a recent article, he wrote: ‘The fact is that I have changed my mind. The old philosophical certainties have collapsed in the face of the reality of needless suffering.’ In the past, Carey has championed arguments against gay marriage and spoken against relaxing the law on dying.
Carey was born to a hospital porter in the East End of London and rose through the Church of England to become Archbishop of Canterbury between 1991 and 2002. He remains a busy Christian minister and is still active in public life through his membership of the House of Lords.
Daffern is team rector of the benefice of Blenheim. He was canon residentiary at Coventry Cathedral for seven years and studied theology at the University of Durham.
The Gibraltar Lecture will be delivered every year at the festival and will take the forms
of an address, an ‘in conversation’ or a debate. The lecture will be devoted to matters of major cultural, historical or international importance at the invitation of Her Majesty’s
Government of Gibraltar.