Wesley Carr: Faith guides the way. Picture by Amit Datta

He conducted the funerals of Princess Diana, the Queen Mother and Princess Margaret. He oversaw the 50th anniversary celebrations of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth. As the Dean of Westminster Abbey, Wesley Carr has had more precious moments than most.

Carr is in Calcutta, with wife Natalie, on a three-day visit to renew his support for the community schools project started by Shourabh Mukerji in St Lawrence School in 1968, for underprivileged children. Back in the city after four years ? ?I love India because it captures the imagination? ? the changes, he says, are palpable.

?The shops and stores seem to be a little more organised, although there?s still chaos on the roads. But the roads are better,? he smiled.

Seeing the children was ?wonderful?, although the 63-year-old is used to meeting more high-profile people, like President George W. Bush and President Vladimir Putin. ?It?s cliched, but I am always very impressed by heads of state. And military generals.?

The former Oxford and Cambridge student?s most memorable guest of honour at the Abbey was former mayor of New York Rudy Giuliani. ?He had come to get his medal from the Queen. I got a call just half-an-hour before he was to arrive at the Abbey. But he was late, having stopped at a Starbucks on the way for coffee! He said wow to everything. When he left, people clapped for him, which was great.?

While Carr?s most emotional ceremony was the Queen Mother?s funeral ? ?people really identified with her? -? his most memorable was Diana?s funeral, barely six months into being dean.

?The best thing about it was that while people celebrated who she was, they didn?t make her into a saint, which was what was in danger of happening outside. Also, nearly everyone cried, but at different moments during Elton John?s song or the choir singing.?

Religion in today?s times and conflict between society and the church have not, however, diminished people?s faith in god, feels Carr. ?At a parish, one woman told me she believed in god, but didn?t need to go to church. When I asked whether we should get rid of churches, she shot back, ?No! We need someone to pray for us?!?

If society seeks solace in religion, the church, too, must be led. ?The church will ultimately have to change its stance on issues like contraception, abortion and gay marriage,? says the man who is no stranger to controversy. ?Modernising means having to change. We are all modernisers in our own time.?