The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams – the man commonly thought of as the leader of the world’s 85 million Anglicans – is to step down at the end of this year. And the Archbishops of this church have been quick to pay homage to him.

“He was greatly respected by us,” says Archbishop David Moxon, who spoke on behalf of Archbishops Brown Turei and Winston Halapua.

“We respected him as a deeply prayerful, thoughtful person, as someone of huge intelligence.

“But he was above all wise, in the Biblical sense, with a great heart for the diversity of the Anglican Communion, across all its cultures, and with all its theological tensions.

“He has a way of searching for the highest common good with all the resources of his scholarship, and all the sensitivity of his soul.

“His sermons, writings and talks will endure as unique in their generation, will be used for a very long time as an expression of exemplary Anglican thinking.

“We will miss Archbishop Rowan’s grace and mind very much, and we wish him well in his new role in Cambridge.

“And we’re delighted and humbled that his last international duty will be amongst us here in Aotearoa New Zealand, when he chairs the Anglican Consultative council meeting in Auckland in November.”