Archbishop Justin is the Christmas week castaway on Radio 4's Desert Island Discs with interviewer Kirsty Young.
Archbishop Justin with Desert Island Discs presenter Kirsty Young. BBC

The programme was broadcast for the first time this morning and will be repeated on Boxing Day at 9am GMT. It is available to listen to on BBC iPlayer and will be available as a podcast.

The Archbishop chose eight pieces of music, a book and a luxury item that he would take were he to be cast away on a desert island.

His music choices were:

  1. The Tokens - The Lion Sleeps Tonight 
  2. Beethoven - Symphony No. 6 (Pastoral Symphony)
  3. John Taverner - God is With us
  4. Kachipo of Sudan - Yesu Odeshi
  5. Matt and Beth Redman  - Blessed be Your Name
  6. Gerry and the Pacemakers  - You’ll Never Walk Alone
  7. Michael Berkeley - Listen, Listen, O my child
  8. Benjamin Britten - War Requiem (“Requiem Aeternam”)

Asked which piece of music he would save if the water threatened to wash away his desert island discs, the Archbishop chose Blessed be Your Name by Matt and Beth Redman.

Book (not including the Bible, which castaways automatically receive): Edward Gibbon, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

Luxury Item: The Complete West Wing (Seasons 1-7).

Three previous Archbishops of Canterbury have been castaways: Rowan Williams (2002 - as Archbishop-Elect); George Carey (1995); Robert Runcie (1989). All three were interviewed by Sue Lawley.

2 min read

Source URL: https://www.archbishopofcanterbury.org/news/archbishop-justin-desert-island-discs