The Anglican church should rethink depictions of Jesus as a white man in traditional Christian imagery, the head of the Church of England said Friday.
Justin Welby, archbishop of Canterbury, was asked in an interview with BBC Radio 4 if the Western mindset that Jesus looked Caucasian needs to be reconsidered in light of the Black Lives Matter movement.
“Yes of course it does, this sense that God was white … You go into churches [around the world] and you don’t see a white Jesus,” he said. “You see a black Jesus, a Chinese Jesus, a Middle-Eastern Jesus — which is of course the most accurate — you see a Fijian Jesus.”
The archbishop was commenting on the belief that Jesus was born in Bethlehem, part of what’s now considered the Middle East.
As such, statues of Jesus in Canterbury Cathedral will be under review amid the anti-racism protests sweeping the globe and the movement to bring down controversial monuments, he said.
“Jesus is portrayed in as many ways as there are cultures, languages and understandings. And I don’t think that throwing out everything we’ve got in the past is the way to do it but I do think saying: ‘That’s not the Jesus who exists, that’s not who we worship’ is a reminder of the universality of the God who became fully human,” he said.
But Welby said the church must carefully examine which religious monuments should be removed — instead of simply tearing them down.
“Just go around Canterbury Cathedral, there are monuments everywhere, or Westminster Abbey, and we’re looking at all that, and some will have to come down,” he said.
He also urged followers to forgive the “trespasses” of some people depicted in statues.
“There can be forgiveness, I hope and pray as we come together, but only if there’s justice,” he said.