THE Bishop of Guildford, the Rt Revd Andrew Watson, has been diagnosed with inoperable cancer, he announced in a letter to his diocese on Tuesday.
Stomach pain, an aversion to eating and consequent weight loss had prompted a series of investigations in the New Year, Bishop Watson writes. On 12 January, these revealed “a substantial tumour in my pancreas, which is interacting with the nervous system that runs down my spinal cord. A CT scan also found smaller lesions in my liver.”
A subsequent biopsy and MRI scan had last week revealed “both the primary tumour and the secondaries to be cancerous and inoperable”.
The Bishop writes that chemotherapy is likely “to make life a little more comfortable”, and that he intends to continue his episcopal duties for the time being, at least until Easter, “whilst recognising too that any decision we make at this point is necessarily provisional”.
He writes that “the speed of events since the turn of the new year has been a severe shock to us and to our family, though we could hardly be better placed in terms of support. There have been tears, of course, and plenty of them (generally prompted by people saying nice things about us!); but that doesn’t preclude a very real sense of God’s presence in it all.”
The news was acknowledged by the Archbishop of Canterbury during the General Synod meeting in Church House, Westminster, this week. Bishop Watson, she said on Tuesday morning, was joining the sessions remotely, because of his recent diagnosis. She led members in a period of prayer for Bishop Watson and his family.
In his letter, Bishop Watson writes that he would deeply value prayers “for my family, for my senior team, and for the diocese at a time of quite such unexpected upheaval. Those with great faith might wish to pray for my complete healing, and that, of course, would be wonderful; but ‘cheerfully persisting’ towards a good death also bears testimony to our living Lord, and St Paul’s testimony — that ‘for me to live is Christ, to die is gain’ (Philippians 1 :21) — is the greatest comfort of them all.”
He concluded: “Whatever the future holds, I remain deeply grateful to God for the journey of the past 64 years.”
A spokesperson for the diocese of Guildford said: “Having only just received this diagnosis, Bishop Andrew is currently awaiting further information regarding medical options to support his comfort and care. He has advised colleagues across the diocese that he hopes to continue in his responsibilities as Bishop of Guildford for as long as his health permits. Further information regarding any practical implications and next steps will be shared in the coming weeks.
“We ask that you keep Bishop Andrew, his wife Beverly, and their family in your thoughts and prayers during this extremely challenging time.”