Former Archbishop of Canterbury Dies

L O N D ON, July 12 -- Robert Runcie, the 102nd Archbishop of Canterbury who presided over the wedding of Prince Charles and Princess Diana in 1981, has died. He was 78.

Runcie died overnight at his home in Hertfordshire after a longbattle with cancer, a spokeswoman for Lambeth Palace, the officialresidence of the archbishops, said.

Runcie sometimes appeared as the leading critic of MargaretThatcher’s government. He antagonized Thatcher, who had appointedhim, through his prayers for all the dead of the Falkland Islandswar and his criticism of the government’s tactics in beating astrike by coal miners.

Runcie was among the conservatives on the ordination of women,the great issue that tore at the Church of England in the late 20thcentury. Though not personally opposed, he argued that ordainingwomen would split the church—as it did—and that it would impedeecumenical overtures to Roman Catholics and Orthodox Christians.

Tried to Help Charles, Diana

Runcie presided at the wedding of Prince Charles and PrincessDiana in 1981, and later tried unsuccessfully to heal the growingrift between them.

During his time as archbishop from 1980 to 1991, the Church ofEngland was beset by controversies over the ordination of women andthe introduction of modernized liturgies. He also pushed the churchto take a more liberal line on remarrying divorced people, aneffort that bore fruit after his retirement.

Though Runcie was decorated for bravery as a tank officer inWorld War II, he was criticized as a feeble pacifist because of hiscomments at the end of the Falkland Islands war in 1982.

Runcie’s final years as archbishop were clouded by thekidnapping in Lebanon of his aide Terry Waite in 1987. After Waitewas freed in 1991, both men admitted to tensions between them.

Ripped Over Remarks

Runcie was criticized for some remarks about Diana that wereincluded in Humphrey Carpenter’s 1996 biography of the archbishop.