Richard Chartres

The Right Reverend and Right Honourable
Richard Chartres
Bishop of London
Diocese Diocese of London
In office 1995–2017
Predecessor David Hope
Orders
Ordination 1973 (deacon)
1974 (priest)
Consecration 22 May 1992[1]
Personal details
Born (1947-07-11) 11 July 1947
Ware, Hertfordshire, United Kingdom
Nationality British
Denomination Anglican
Residence The Old Deanery, Dean's Court, London
Spouse Caroline McLintock
(married 1982)
Children Alexander, Sophie, Louis and Clio
Previous post Gresham Professor of Divinity
1987–1992
Area Bishop of Stepney
1992–1995
Alma mater Trinity College, Cambridge

Richard John Carew Chartres KCVO ChStJ PC FSA (/ˈtʃɑːrtərz/,;[2] born 11 July 1947) is an English bishop of the Church of England. He became Bishop of London in 1995, and in the same year he was sworn of the Privy Council. He has announced that he will retire on 28 February 2017.[3] Before this appointment, he was area Bishop of Stepney from 1992 to 1995 and Gresham Professor of Divinity from 1987 to 1992.

Life

Early life

Chartres was born in Ware, Hertfordshire to an English mother and an Irish Huguenot father.[4] He was educated at Hertford Grammar School (now Richard Hale School) and Trinity College, Cambridge (MA), where he studied history before his theological studies at Cuddesdon and Lincoln theological colleges (BD).

He has spoken of his great-uncle, John Chartres, "...called [the] 'Mystery Man of the Treaty' was a member of Sinn Féin and a Protestant civil servant. He was also undoubtedly a gun runner for Michael Collins."[5]

Priest

Chartres was ordained as a priest in 1974. During this time he was chaplain to Robert Runcie, then Bishop of St Albans and later Archbishop of Canterbury. He received a Lambeth Bachelor of Divinity degree and holds honorary doctorates from Brunel University, City University London, London Metropolitan University, St. Mary's University College, and London Guildhall University.

Gresham professor

From 1987 to 1992, he was Professor of Divinity at Gresham College in London. Based on a three-part lecture series given in May 1992, he published A Brief History of Gresham College 1597–1997.[6] During the first lecture of the original lecture series he referred to the college as a "magical island like Atlantis" disappearing and re-emerging from the sea. This was a reference both to the Invisible College and Francis Bacon's New Atlantis.

Other Gresham lectures by Chartres covered the Shroud of Turin (November 1988) and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem (December 1989) when he spoke about the Gresham Jerusalem Project as well as on prayer (1991).[7]

Bishop

On 15 May 1992, Chartres was nominated[8] area Bishop of Stepney. He was consecrated as bishop on 22 May 1992.[1]

In November 1995, Chartres was confirmed as the Bishop of London.[9] He also became Prelate of the Order of the British Empire[10] and Dean of the Chapel Royal. He is a Privy Counsellor. In 1997 he was appointed a chaplain of the Most Venerable Order of Saint John (ChStJ).[11] He is an Honorary Bencher of the Middle Temple, a Liveryman of the Merchant Taylors' Company and of the Worshipful Company of Vintners, an Honorary Freeman of the Weavers' and the Woolmen Companies.

In 1997, Chartres was one of the executors of the will of Diana, Princess of Wales and delivered an address at her memorial service in 2007. He confirmed Prince William. On 12 September 2009 he presided at the marriage of Lord Frederick Windsor to actress Sophie Winkleman at the Chapel Royal in Hampton Court Palace.

Chartres is the founder and chairman of the trustees of the St Ethelburga's Centre for Reconciliation and Peace. He is also a trustee of Coexist, sitting on the advisory council of the Tony Blair Faith Foundation. In October 2005, he joined Marianne Suhr at St Giles in the Fields, London, to launch a new maintenance project for the capital's historic churches.[12]

In January 2006, Chartres was criticised by the media for his decision to spend Easter on a cruise ship giving lectures on theology rather than attend the services at St Paul's Cathedral. At the time, Chartres was on a two-month sabbatical, his first in 33 years.[13] He preached the sermon at the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton on 29 April 2011. In 2013, Chartres led the state funeral service of Baroness Thatcher, with whom he had a close friendship.

Chartres is responsible for the Church of England's relations with the Orthodox churches, representing the Church of England at the funeral of Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow of the Russian Orthodox Church and the enthronement of his successor, Kirill I, in Moscow.

On 19 July 2016, it was announced that Chartres is to retire as Bishop of London effective Shrove Tuesday, 28 February 2017, but remaining as Dean of the Chapel Royal until the next Bishop of London is in post.[3]

Green issues

Since its launch in 2006, Chartres has led the Church of England's "shrinking the footprint" campaign, aimed at cutting 80% of the church's carbon emissions by 2050.[14] In the launch and subsequently, Chartres criticised pollution of the planet by people going on holidays by plane. Michael O'Leary, boss of the low-cost airline Ryanair, responded that "the Bishop of London has got empty churches – presumably if no one went on holidays perhaps they might turn up and listen to his sermons. God bless the Bishop!"[15] Also, after criticism that his taking flights for "diocese work" as well as retaining a chauffeur-driven car were against the ideals of this campaign, he pledged not to fly for a year.[16]

In October 2008, the Independent on Sunday named Chartres as number 75 of the top 100 environmentalists in Britain on their "Green List".[17]

Patronage

Chartres is a patron of various organisations, including:

Personal life

In 1982, Chartres married Caroline (daughter of Sir Alan McLintock), then a freelance writer and now the commissioning editor of a publishing house, with whom he has four children; Alexander, Sophie, Louis and Clio. He is also a member of the Oriental Club in London.

Honours and awards

Chartres was appointed Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (KCVO) in the 2009 Queen's Birthday Honours.[18] In 1999 he was elected a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London (FSA).

Honours

Honorary degrees

Styles

References

  1. 1 2 Diocese of London – Bishop of London biography
  2. ↑ "Mind Your Language: Dot Wordsworth continues her look at BBC booklets on pronunciation published in the 1930s"
  3. 1 2 Diocese of London — Bishop of London announces retirement in 2017 (Accessed 19 July 2016)
  4. ↑ Robbie Low interview with Chartres
  5. ↑ Robbie Low interview, http://trushare.com, 8 January 1996; accessed 24 August 2015.
  6. ↑ Chartres, Richard; Vermont, David (1998). A Brief History of Gresham College 1597–1997. London: Gresham College. p. 100. ISBN 0-947822-16-X.
  7. ↑ www.gresham.ac.uk
  8. ↑ The London Gazette: no. 52923. p. 8409. 15 May 1992. Retrieved 2008-01-04.
  9. ↑ The London Gazette: no. 54203. p. 14961. 6 November 1995. Retrieved 2008-01-04.
  10. ↑ The London Gazette: no. 54231. p. 16345. 1 December 1995. Retrieved 2008-01-04.
  11. ↑ The London Gazette: no. 54652. p. 595. 16 January 1997. Retrieved 2008-01-04.
  12. ↑ "Support from on high for gutter project!", maintainyourbuilding.org.uk, accessed 23 July 2008
  13. ↑ "Bishop in Easter lecture cruise". BBC News. 23 January 2006. Retrieved 2007-03-24.
  14. ↑ Church launches Shrinking The Footprint campaign Archived 11 June 2007 at the Wayback Machine., Church of England, published 2006-06-02, accessed 2007-05-01
  15. ↑ "O'Leary gives sermon to bishop on travel 'sins'". Irish Independent. 27 July 2006. Retrieved 2007-03-24.
  16. ↑ The green cross code, The Guardian, 14 June 2007
  17. ↑ "The IoS Green List: Britain's top 100 environmentalists". The Independent on Sunday. London. 12 October 2008. Retrieved 2008-10-13.
  18. ↑ The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 59090. p. 3. 13 June 2009.
Church of England titles
Preceded by
Jim Thompson		 Bishop of Stepney
1992–1995 		Succeeded by
John Sentamu
Preceded by
David Hope		 Bishop of London
1995–present 		Incumbent
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