Gary Wilton
Gary Wilton, 48, is the Archbishop of Canterbury’s main man in Brussels, and is most definitely not a lobbyist.
As job titles go, I suppose I do have one of the longer ones. It certainly needs a deep breath to announce oneself as ‘Canon Doctor Gary Wilton, the Church of England Representative to the European Union and Canon of the Pro-Cathedral of Holy Trinity Brussels’. Sometimes I just say I am ‘the Archbishop of Canterbury’s main man in Brussels’.
My job involves working closely with Lambeth Palace in London and meeting the Archbishop, Dr Rowan Williams, face to face every term. He’s deeply interested in Europe and what goes on in Brussels. One of his key areas of focus is climate change, which I therefore follow closely. He gave a great lecture a short while back in York Minster entitled Environment is an Issue of Justice, in which he spelled out why respect for the environment is not an optional extra. He affirmed that getting our relationship with the rest of the created order into proper perspective is both a responsibility and a necessity. During a recent visit to Lambeth Palace I invited the Archbishop of Canterbury to visit Brussels next year, to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Schuman declaration. I do hope he accepts.
People always think I’m a lobbyist but I most definitely am not. I do attend EU briefings for church representatives, but am not there to sell the Church of England’s position on climate change, nor any other topic. I am here to promote open, transparent and regular dialogue between the European institutions and the Church of England. I also work alongside other churches, religious groups and communities of conviction that have the same goals. My role essentially is to educate and inform: to help the Church of England understand the EU and the EU to understand the Church of England.
For example, since taking up this role, I have organised the visit to the European institutions of 35 Bishops’ chaplains from the UK. The objective was to provide the chaplains with an overview of how the EU works. The morning session was entitled The EU: Does it Matter? while in the afternoon the topic was Does the EU matter to the Church? Senior EU officials who also happen to worship at the Pro-Cathedral of Holy Trinity were the main speakers. I visit the European Parliament at least once a week and attend a weekly prayer meeting in the meditation room, which I see as a vital means to encourage Christians who work in the institutions.
I’ve been in the position for 16 months. I moved to Brussels after ten years in theological education in the UK, first at the Church Army’s college in Sheffield and then at York St John University. For me, theology is about making sense of the whole of life in relationship to God. My focus has always been on the interface between church and society.
I am pleased with the progress made in my first year. It was a newly created position, so had to be defined virtually from scratch. Bringing a new job description to life was challenging but also satisfying. It’s neither a pastoral role, although I do show pastoral care to people, nor a lobbying role, although I do participate in policy matters – I see myself more as a spiritual partner to people who work in political and policy processes. As to the future, I am preparing some theological resources surrounding the 60th anniversary of the Schuman declaration, and am publishing a theological resource for bishops on the values of contemporary Europe.
From the start, the Archbishop of Canterbury encouraged me to wear my clerical collar as I walk the corridors and visit the canteen in the Parliament, as a sign that the Church is present and interested in this public space. So if you see me around the EU institutions, don’t be put off by my clerical collar; do stop me for a chat!
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