I was intrigued to see that Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, has publicly professed his belief that Shakespeare was a Catholic. He is, however, wrong to presume that such a belief is unbuttressed by documentary evidence. Visitors to this site will not need reminding that a host of scholars have provided evidence for the Bard’s papist sympathies and we can only hope that Archbishop Williams will be introduced to this scholarship.

I was also wryly amused by Williams’ confession that Macbeth was the character with whom he sympathized most in the Shakespearean canon. Since Macbeth signifies the Machiavellian spirit that animated the foundation of the church of which Williams is the highest contemporary dignitary, the connection is providentially symbolic, albeit unwitting.

Here’s the link to the article about Williams’ confession: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/hay-festival/8543371/William-Shakespeare-was-probably-a-Catholic-says-Archbishop-of-Canterbury.html.

As a post script to this discussion, longtime readers of the St. Austin Review will recall that Archbishop Williams once contributed an article to our journal on the subject of the Russian Orthodox liturgy. For a relatively small journal, we can feel an element of pride (in the non-theological sense) that both the present Pope (as Cardinal Ratzinger) and the current Archbishop of Canterbury (as the Bishop of Wales) are amongst our luminous and illustrious constellation of contributors.

As a further post script, I’d like to remind visitors to this site that the Portsmouth Institute in Rhode Island is hosting a conference on the Catholic Shakespeare on June 10th & 11th. Speakers will include Father Peter Milward, all the way from Japan, and Lady Clare Asquith, all the way from England, as well as a contribution from myself, with the assistance of the Theatre of the Word, on the Catholicism of Hamlet. Please see the entry on this site on my speaking engagements in June for further details. Perhaps someone should send the Archbishop of Canterbury an invitation …