Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams has announced he is to stand down in December.

He is stepping down and will take the position of Master of Magdalene College at the University of Cambridge from January 2013, his website says.......

The ABC has sometimes been referred to, accurately and deridingly, as the "Druid-in-Chief" owing to the fact that he underwent some type of Druidic elevation quite quite literally on the eve of his consecration as the Archbishop.

So no real loss, although the Anglican Communion might endure far worse.

He is NOT a druid in the sense of the ancient pagans. He is a member of the order of Druids of the Gorsedd of Wales, which promotes literary scholarship, poetry, and music. Admission to the order of Druids is a recognition of contributions to Welsh culture.

Yes, that jogged my memory--I believe that both the Welsh organization and he himself used the phrase "honorary Druid".

Nevertheless, the appearance of syncretism is less than appropriate. It would be as if I, whom am of Pennsylvania Dutch ancestry, were to be termed an "honorary pow-wower." ("Pow-wow" was and is a folk medecine/semi occultic practice among some of the Dutch)

It's not sad at all. The Rev. Dr. Williams was and is a brilliant scholar and theologian, who was not temperamentally suited to be the primate of the fractious Anglican communion. He will no doubt be much more happy at University, and the CofE will be better off (assuming it can agree on a new archbishop who has the leadership skills and pastoral sensitivity that Dr. Williams lacked).

He's not the first brilliant scholar to decide being an Anglican bishop was not for him. N.T. Wright recently resigned as Bishop of Durham to return to his research.

I think both of them are following the example of St. Gregory Nanzianzen, who never wanted to be a bishop, was not happy as Archbishop of Constantinople, and who returned to his cell as soon as the Council of Constantinople was over.