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Rt Rev. Michael Hare Duke

Discussion in 'WWII Obituaries' started by GRW, Mar 24, 2015.

  1. GRW

    GRW Pillboxologist WW2|ORG Editor

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    "Michael Hare Duke was a brave and significant Church leader. Never did he shrink from controversy. His causes and issues were sometimes unpopular, but never trivial.

    I first came to know him when we shared platforms in 1982, in opposition to the Falklands War; his position with his "electorate" was infinitely more difficult than mine. As Episcopal Bishop of St Andrews, Dunkeld and Dunblane he represented Perth, home of the fierce and famous Black Watch Regiment. Many of the important members of his flock were retired Army officers, active members of the Episcopal Church (which might be described, not kindly, as Scotland's branch of the Church of England); in 1982 most, if not all, backed Margaret Thatcher and "our boys" to the hilt.

    Hare Duke preached peace and told them they were wrong. While they later came to admire him, in 1982 there were moves to destool him. But Hare Duke yielded not an inch as the Fleet sailed towards the Falklands.

    Equally, he did not shrink from theological controversy. He infuriated ecclesiastical opponents – including senior colleagues in a position to deny him the preferment he clearly merited – as one of the earliest clerics to give vent to the idea of women priests. He also entertained ecumenical views, and wrote shortly after his arrival in Perth, "I'd love to see the day when we are part of the Church of Scotland." Episcopal friends in the have told me they are in no doubt that Duke's views denied him the chance of becoming Bishop of Edinburgh and Primus of the Episcopal Church.

    Michael Geoffrey Hare Duke was born in Calcutta; his father was a Scots/Irish civil engineer who helped build the Indian railway system. He would become well-known in Lancashire for the welcome he afforded members of the Indian and Pakistani communities in the cotton towns when he was Vicar of St Mark's, Bury, from 1956-62. He would also recall the kindnesses of the Indian women who had administered to his every need as a child.

    Sent home to Bradfield at the age of 12, he was much influenced by the robust Christian views of his headmaster, TD Hills, who had been a House Master at Eton. Duke recalled to me with embarrassed pleasure how he had thrilled both Hills and himself by beating his Etonian opponent in the Quadrangular boxing competition, and going on to a points victory against an even tougher opponent from Haileybury and Imperial Services College.

    From Bradfield Hare Duke became a sub-lieutenant in the Navy towards the end of the Second World War. "When as a 19-year-old you have gone to your bunk every night wondering whether a U-Boat would strike your ship, you become a bit cautious of sending a huge armada to the South Atlantic."
    http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/news/rt-rev-michael-hare-duke-admired-episcopal-bishop-unafraid-of-the-controversy-caused-by-his-views-on-social-and-theological-issues-10131330.html
     

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