As the Archbishop of Canterbury prepares to leave his post, we're beginning to hear the true voice of Rowan Williams. Photo: BriYYZ

When Rowan Williams publicly confirmed in March what some insiders had for months expected, that he would be standing down as Archbishop of Canterbury in the coming months, he was diplomatic about the reasons behind a move he didn’t have to make until 2020.

During a round of interviews, a rueful Williams did at one point admit to certain “frustrations” in the job. But he did not identify them explicitly.

Chief among these are believed to be the church’s preoccupation—near obsession—with matters of gender and sexuality. At home, the issue of women bishops is set to dominate the Church of England as it comes delicately to some sort of a head at General Synod this summer. Elsewhere, extremists in Africa and the US, on both sides of the