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カンタベリー大主教メッセージ

桃山学院創立125周年・大学開学50周年を祝した「記念感謝礼拝」と「記念式典」が2009年9月25日、26日の両日、第104代カンタベリー大主教ローワン・ダグラス・ウィリアムズ師ご来臨のもと挙行されました。

第104代カンタベリー大主教 
ローワン・ダグラス・ウィリアムズ師

第104代カンタベリー大主教 ローワン・ダグラス・ウィリアムズ師2003年、英国・エリザベス女王の名代である当時のトニー・ブレア首相によって任命されたウィリアムズ大主教は、リベラルで温厚な学究肌の方で、大主教に任命された初のウェールズ人です。
ウィリアムズ大主教は、ケンブリッジ大学を優秀な成績で卒業し、29才で著書を出し、36才にしてオックスフォード大学の最年少教授に就任しています。碩学の大主教として公知の人材です。
ウィリアムズ大主教は、弱い立場に置かれている人々に共感しつつ、人間の尊厳、平和の問題、環境問題などへの関心も高く、イラク戦争やアフガニスタン紛争などについて、英国政府に対して、公然と戦争の愚かさなど発言をしておられます。

カンタベリー大主教とは?

英国教会の最高位聖職者であり、国王の戴冠式、王族の結婚、洗礼、葬儀などを執り行います。さらにカンタベリー大主教の影響力はイギリスに留まらず、ローマ・カトリック、東方正教会についでキリスト教で世界第3位の7000万の信徒を持つアングリカン・コミュニオン(世界聖公会共同体)38管区の精神的支柱として、世界的にも大きな影響力をお持ちです。

2009年9月25日「記念感謝礼拝」にいただいたカンタベリー大主教からのメッセージ

A good school or a good university has these signs about it, amongst others: it is a place where teachers do not simply transfer information from inside their heads to inside somebody else's head. Instead, it is a place where a teacher stirs up the desire to understand. Sometimes a student will say to a teacher 'my desire to understand is such that I must disagree with you', and a good teacher is glad of that. That is when a teacher knows that a student desires the truth, not just to be loyal to a person, but to be loyal to the truth. And that desire for the truth is something which never comes to an end, but which is always renewed in the life of a good student. A good student is not one who says 'Now I have studied and I can get on with my life', but one who says 'Now I have learned how to grow'. And so in the reading from the bible which we heard a few minutes ago, we see the Christian foundations for this vision. St Paul begins by complaining that the Christians of Corinth will not grow, they do not want to grow up. They want to be loyal only to this teacher or to that teacher, but they do not want to be loyal to the truth which is in Jesus Christ. St Paul is a good teacher because he says 'I do not want you to be loyal to me; I want you to be loyal to the truth that is in Jesus Christ'. So he wants his students to grow up, not to remain children. He wants them to be free. And that is how the two words which I know are important in the vision of Momoyama Gakuin come to relate to these words from the bible: the words 'liberty' and 'love'. The Christian teacher wants human beings to become free, the Christian teacher wants human beings to desire truth. And so, a Christian school, or a Christian university must always be a place of liberty and of love. It is where students learn that they have before them, a long journey without ending, into the truth. And for the Christian believer there is the confidence that truth finally has the face of Jesus Christ. So that the journey of learning is not about acquiring facts, but about coming into a relationship. It is a relationship of love, desire for the truth, because the truth itself is seen to be the same as love. So today we give thanks for the journey into love and freedom that the history of this university represents. And we pray for God's blessing on the journey that lies ahead. We pray that the journey of each student towards the truth may also be a journey in liberty and in love. In the name of the father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen. In the New Testament, we meet St Andrew just on one or two occasions. And when we meet St Andrew we see him in a very distinctive role. St Andrew appears to us as someone who introduces people to Christ. First of all, he introduces his own brother Peter. Later on in the gospel when people from abroad come wanting to see Jesus, Andrew again introduces them. Andrew has seen something powerful and wonderful in Jesus Christ, and he wants others to see it as well. So strong is his conviction that he has seen something wonderful, that others look at him and they trust him and want to walk with him. We could say that Andrew has turned his face towards the light and now the light is reflected in his eyes. What is it that Andrew has seen? He has seen the perfect human being. He has seen human nature transformed in its relation with God. And so what he wants others to see is that full humanity, that radiance of God's presence in a human face. He has seen in Jesus someone who is filled with all the fullness of God in the words of our lesson this morning and he wants other lives to be filled with that fullness. Those who founded this university, those who founded the institution 150 years ago were people who had seen the fullness of God in human faces. They had seen the fullness of God in Jesus; they had seen the full humanity of those who followed Jesus - and they wanted others to be filled. But for them as for all true missionaries this was not just a religious concern; it was a concern about the whole of human life and experience. The beginnings of the Church Missionary Society to which this institution owes so much, are a very interesting study in themselves. Those who founded the Society were close to those who fought against the slave trade in the British Empire and also those who were working for better conditions for working people in England. They were concerned, troubled and angry that working people in England and slaves in the British Empire could not truly experience their own full humanity. And so their missionary activity was always connected with the concern to set people free for their full humanity. I know that that is true of the CMS today as well. But it is a reminder that this university stands for the vision of full humanity. Of course, it stands for Academic Excellence; for International Cooperation; for the equipping of people to play a part in society, but because it is a Christian Foundation there is always something more. What is done here is done. In St Paul's words, "Rooted and grounded in love". It is rooted and grounded in the conviction that human beings are capable of liberty and joy beyond anything they can imagine. And so, in this university, students will learn something of the mystery of their own nature. Whether they recognise the Christian origins of this belief or not, they will still be absorbing, still be taking into themselves something of that vision; a vision of the scale and the depth of human nature. And so, as with St Andrew, something of the light of truth will shine in their faces and draw other people to them. And so what we pray for the future of this university is that it will continue to raise up men and women, who in their life and their work, show that depth and fullness of human nature. And wherever in this society or wherever in the world they find themselves, they will be witnesses to something deeper than most people understand. And where there is slavery or injustice; where people are imprisoned by the pressures of work and the anxieties of society, these people - those who come from this university - will show that life can be different, can be deeper, can be more joyful. Every university wishes its students to be successful but it is right that a Christian university should wish its students to know joy and peace as well. So may all involved in the life of this university experience the fullness of humanity and may they be prepared more and more to receive the fullness of God. In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.