THE Bishop of Guildford, the Rt Revd Andrew Watson, who announced earlier this month that he had been diagnosed with inoperable pancreatic cancer (News, 13 February), has written to his diocese to say that he’s now within the care of the hospice team.
In his message, issued on Friday, he said that his oncologist had told him this week that his tumour was “particularly aggressive and hard to administer”, and that chemotherapy was more likely to do more harm than good. When asked how long he might live, the oncologist gave him the “sobering answer” that he can be “doing well” if he was alive in a month’s time.
Bishop Watson had previously hoped to proceed in office until Easter. He has now, nevertheless, signed a deed of delegation handing responsibility for the diocese to the Bishop of Dorking, the Rt Revd Paul Davies. He apologised that he can be unable to fulfil his existing commitments.
“I don’t fear the prospect of dying and find to my relief that my faith within the ‘resurrection of the body and the life everlasting’ has only grown stronger over the past few weeks,” he writes.
He had “grumpy patches”, he said, but considered himself “deeply blessed” to have been born right into a loving family, to have been “joyfully married” for 40 years and raised 4 “remarkable” children, and to have had such a satisfying ministry within the Church of England. The Archbishop of Canterbury had paid a “welcome pastoral visit”, he said, and he asked for continued prayers for her in her “daunting recent responsibilities”.
A Day of Prayer for Bishop Watson, at Guildford Cathedral, has been organised for Monday, 23 February. In his letter — which, the Bishop acknowledges, is more likely to be his last — he expressed thanks for the “tidal wave of affection, prayer and goodwill” that had flowed since his diagnosis became public, and said that he and his family were “particularly moved” to listen to the news of the vigil.
