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When, halfway through my archiepiscopate, I decided to write my memoirs I was surprised to discover that I am the only one of 103 Archbishops to have done so. Admittedly Archbishop Thomas Secker in the eighteenth century set out on the task but his sudden death left his memoirs unfinished. This book is a reflection on a ministry of which Archbishop Cosmo Lang said long ago: ‘The post [of Archbishop of Canterbury] is impossible for any one man to do, but only one man can do it.’ Any holder of this historic office knows from first-hand experience that its demands, expectations and opportunities take one to the edge of human endurance, and require of its holders a recognition of our frailty and our need of God’s everlasting grace.

This edition of Know the Truth gives me an opportunity to comment on some of the reactions of those who have read the first edition.

I might have anticipated that certain sections of the press, and, indeed, a few Church leaders, would focus attention on what I wrote about the Royal Family. I was accused of breaking confidentiality, and one writer even saw this as ‘the ultimate betrayal of trust’. There is no truth in this claim. As will become clear to the reader, no conversation I had with any member of the Royal Family is divulged in the book. I have always kept strictly to the principle of pastoral confidentiality, with the Royal Family and indeed with anyone else. However, what particularly caught the media’s attention was the revelation that I had several private conversations with Mrs Parker Bowles. Again, no report of our conversation is given: all that is offered is my opinion of her as an extremely able and nice person.

Controversially, the book did offer my view that the Prince of Wales should marry Mrs Parker Bowles in due course, and I was delighted when the marriage took place on 9 April 2005 in St George’s Chapel, Windsor. If the uproar caused by my views encouraged their decision to marry I am pleased to have played a small role.

April 2005 also saw the death of Pope John Paul II and the inauguration of Pope Benedict XVI. Pope John Paul II will be remembered as an outstanding Pope and I feel privileged to have known him, and to have worked and prayed with him. If he has left behind him a great deal of unfinished business, it is up to his successor to take forward the hope that his predecessor has given. Scepticism has already greeted the appointment of the new Pope, whose record as President of the Sacred Congregation for the Defence of the Faith does not lead one to expect a great change in policy. However, Joseph Ratzinger has a brilliant mind and a deep love for his Lord. He knows the secular challenges all too well. I pray that he will take risks for the sake of the gospel. His own Church is dying in many parts of the West for lack of vocations to the priesthood. Now is the time to tackle the issue of priestly celibacy and make it optional in the Church, the time to look more sympathetically on the ordination of women and to encourage a healthy debate both within and outside the Roman Catholic Church. Now is also the time to support the action of Catholic agencies in caring for those affected by HIV/AIDS by allowing the use of condoms as part of the strategy to defeat the pandemic. I also suggest that now is the time to make Pope John Paul II’s encyclical Ut Unum Sint a gift to the unity of the Church. Only the Roman Catholic Church, with its pre-eminence in numbers, can do this. Many Christians have become impatient with the slowness of ecumenism and question the amount of time and money going into structural unity at the expense of mission and service.

In the first edition of this book I warned that the consecration of a practising homosexual in the American Church would lead to deep divisions in the Anglican Communion. This has proved the case and the future of the Communion may be bleak if the Episcopal Churches of the United States and Canada continue to assume that they can take unilateral actions on this matter without regard to the rest of the Communion. Events have confirmed my worst fears about the weakness of the Anglican theology of the Church.

Since original publication events have also shown the importance and urgency of the chapter on inter-faith co-operation. I remain convinced that Christians must continue their dialogue with Muslims and Jews in particular, but without forgetting links with other world faiths. Dialogue without friendship, kindness and honest criticism will always remain aloof and bland; with bonds of affection it can contribute substantially to our divided and polarised world.

Few spiritual journeys are ever walked alone. So many people have travelled with me, and I shall remain everlastingly grateful for their patience, kindness, friendship and support. Pride of place goes gladly to my wife Eileen, whose rock-like presence in my life and work is evident throughout this journey. What a great friend she has been over these tumultuous years and what times have we shared together. Then there are our parents who, though out of sight through death, are never out of our minds and grateful hearts. We think of our brothers and sisters whose lives are inextricably linked with our story, and of our beloved children and their husbands and wives, who have shared our joy and pain over some difficult years. Thank you, Rachel and Andy, for your love and care for us at the Old Palace; and Mark and Penny, Andrew and Helen and Lizzie and Marcus – not forgetting thirteen wonderful grandchildren. Thank you, each one of you, for constantly reminding us that life is a gift to be enjoyed.

In the making of this book there are a number of people who should be thanked and appreciated. I am so grateful to Julia Lloyd, who spent a year at Lambeth going through the records and recording speeches, travel journals and staff records in such a way that my task was made much easier. My son Andrew has also been a tower of strength, going over the draft chapters with a careful eye, reminding me of incidents I had forgotten – and in some cases those I wanted to forget! I am grateful to him for his thoroughness, wisdom, insight and incisiveness. Thanks must go to Sir Philip Mawer, Richard Hop-good and Richard Lay for their help with the chapter on the Church Commissioners; to Dr Mary Tanner for her careful insights on the ecumenical chapter; to Canon Andrew Deuchar, Canon Roger Symon and Dr Alistair Macdonald-Radcliffe for their suggestions with respect to the chapters dealing with the Anglican Communion; to Canon Andrew White and Canon David Marshall for positive comments on the inter-faith chapter; and to the Very Reverend Michael Mayne and Sir Ewan Harper for helpful criticisms of the chapter on the Royal Family. I alone am responsible for the use I have made of all the assistance offered; any shortcomings are entirely my fault.

I also wish to record my debt of gratitude to those whose contribution is deeper than I can possibly state. To Dr Ruth Etchells, whose friendship goes back many years, and whose wisdom has always been there and often sought. To Dr James and the Reverend Elisabeth Ewing, two dear American Christians, whose grace has touched the lives of our family so many times over the last decade. To Sir Siggy and Lady Hazel Sternberg and Lord Greville Janner, wonderful Jewish friends whose kindness has reminded me constantly of what we owe to Judaism. In recent years a rich friendship has been established with Professor Akbar Ahmed, a dear Muslim friend, whose scholarship and commitment to dialogue I admire. To Professor Richard McBrien, Professor of Theology at Notre Dame University; Beverley Bra-zauskas; and Professor Gerry O’Collins of the Gregorian University, Rome, for their rich Catholic contribution to our lives.

Finally, I am grateful, too, for the help and professionalism of my editors and the staff at HarperCollins. The final word of thanks must go to God himself. My journey has been one of finding the truth about the Creator through his final revelation in Jesus, the Christ. If my story helps others to find him my unworthy offering will be worth all that Eileen and I have shared together.

GEORGE CAREY

May 2005