The Bishop of Manchester, the Rt Rev Prof David Walker, has revealed a diagnosis of prostate cancer and given his subsequent reflections on the meaning of life and death.
Speaking on Radio 4’s “Thought for the Day”, the bishop spoke of how his ordeal began with an abnormal end in an otherwise routine blood test. A subsequent MRI scan and a biopsy confirmed that diagnosis.
The bishop said that his prognosis is nice and that, based on one doctor, “You’re more more likely to die with it, than of it.”
Despite this, Bishop Walker said that the close encounter with a possible killer has focused his thoughts on his own mortality. This has been compounded, he said, by recent stories of other well-known cancer patients like King Charles III.
Although the King’s cancer was discovered during treatment for an enlarged prostate, he doesn’t in truth have prostate cancer. The exact nature of the King’s cancer has not been made public.
Prostate cancer affects around one in eight men, with older men at greater risk.
During the present period of Lent, Bishop Walker noted that contemplating the life and death of Jesus and following his own diagnosis, his faith in God has actually strengthened.
“I find myself this yr, in consequence of my diagnosis, affirmed and strengthened in my belief that the God who has made me and loves me, intends me not for destruction, but for an eternity in his presence, one which lies far beyond my imagining,” he said.
Bishop Walker added that he doesn’t “blame God” for his cancer, as an alternative describing his condition as “a consequence of the natural phenomenon of cells to mutate, without that, creatures such as you and me would never have evolved”.
He added that quite than in search of to live endlessly on this earth, he wishes to live properly before God before finally being prepared to let go of this life and enter everlasting life with God.
“Unlike the American billionaires reportedly pouring money into research they hope might enable the super wealthy to live endlessly, being confronted by my illness has step by step helped me to feel able to go when my earthly life reaches its natural conclusion, be that through cancer or otherwise,” he said.
