Obituaries : Lord Arthur Ramsey; Liberal Ex-Archbishop of Canterbury

Lord Arthur Michael Ramsey, the archbishop of Canterbury from 1961 to 1974 who took liberal stands on a wide range of social and political issues, has died at age 83.

Ramsey had been ill with bronchial pneumonia and died Saturday at St. John’s Home in Oxford, the Church of England said.

He and his wife had been living at St. John’s, a home for the elderly, for a few months, a nurse who declined to give her name said.

Ramsey was appointed the 100th Archbishop of Canterbury by Queen Elizabeth and was installed by the church’s most controversial figure at the time, Dr. Hewlett Johnson, known as the “Red Dean” of Canterbury, because of his left-wing views.

Ramsey was himself known for his unconventional outspokenness. He denounced South African apartheid, supported nuclear disarmament and sought to weaken laws opposing homosexuality and abortion.

When he became archbishop, he began his tenure by demanding “greater freedom in the ordering and in the urgent revising of our forms of worship.”

During his 13 years as archbishop, he sought Christian unity and traveled all over the world trying to compromise the differences between the churches.

Born Nov. 14, 1904, Ramsey was not the first clergyman in his family. His paternal grandfather was a Congregationalist minister, and his maternal grandfather was an Anglican minister. He was educated at Cambridge University and was respected as a great debater.

A funeral will be conducted at Canterbury Cathedral, and a memorial service is to held at London’s Westminster Abbey, but no dates have been set.

He is survived by his wife, Lady Joan Ramsey. They had no children.