The Power of Reconciliation will come to be seen as Archbishop Welby's most important book to date.
Welby writes about Reconciliation as seeking to disagree well. It relates to both religious and secular communities, from the household to the international. Conflict is widespread. With the after-effects of Covid, changes in science and technology, inequality, and increasingly polarized political and social strife, moves towards reconciliation are more necessary than ever.
Both before ordination and since Welby has seen conflict first-hand. He has spent many years working on issues of conflict around the world.
The book is full of practical advice for all those in authority on how to bring about reconciliation. There is even a step-by-step guide for this, drawn from the author's own experience.
The book is thus down-to-earth, plugged into reality and devoid of pointless optimism or a Pollyannaish view of our contemporary problems.
Furthermore, there is the dignity of difference. Today there is so much intolerance of views that are other than our own as we demonize those we do not agree with.
This revolutionary book is published in the first place for the 2022 Lambeth Conference in July, when bishops from all around the world assemble in Canterbury. But its importance goes far beyond these confines, which will nonetheless be widely reported in the media and the press. The author deals with conflict and reconciliation within families, businesses, warfare between nations, races and all forms of political conflict. The book concerns the secular sphere every bit as much as the religious, though Welby's message is Christian inspired, and the influence of Desmond Tutu strongly felt.
