London:
The archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, resigned over an abuse cover-up scandal on Tuesday, marking an unprecedented second for the Church of England.
He turns into the primary chief of the church, in addition to the broader Anglican Communion of 85 million Christians worldwide, to be pressured out on this method, spiritual specialists say.
Asserting he’s leaving “in sorrow,” Welby mentioned the timing of his departure can be determined as soon as a overview of his remaining obligations had been accomplished.
The 68-year-old had been within the position since 2013, and would have been anticipated to retire round age 70.
HOW IS THE LIST OF CANDIDATES WHITTLED DOWN?
A interval of session on the wants of the Church of England, in addition to the Anglican Communion, will likely be adopted by an appointment of a Crown Nominations Committee.
The committee will include 17 voting members, together with the archbishop of York who’s the second-most-senior bishop within the establishment, one other bishop elected by the Home of Bishops, and representatives from the Anglican Communion, the Diocese of Canterbury, and the church’s governing physique – the Common Synod.
Will probably be chaired by an Anglican, ideally in public life, chosen by Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
Assembling the committee might take a few months, David Thompson, emeritus professor of recent church historical past on the College of Cambridge, informed Reuters, including that the entire course of might take as much as six months.
WHAT DOES THE COMMITTEE DO?
The committee will make a suggestion to Starmer. If the prime minister accepts it, he’ll put the identify ahead to King Charles, who’s the supreme governor of the Church of England.
WHO ARE POSSIBLE SUCCESSORS?
Three bishops have been tipped to succeed Welby because the 106th archbishop of Canterbury: Martyn Snow, the bishop of Leicester, Graham Usher, the bishop of Norwich, and Guli Francis-Dehqani, the bishop of Chelmsford.
Snow abstained in a church meeting vote on blessing for homosexual {couples}, whereas Usher is in favour of homosexual rights and has pushed for increased taxes on fossil-fuel corporations.
Francis-Dehqani, who was ordained in 2017, simply three years after the primary girl bishop was appointed, was born in Iran and has spoken about how her brother was murdered within the aftermath of the Iranian Revolution.
She can be the primary girl to develop into archbishop if chosen.
Francis-Dehqani and Usher have been amongst 44 bishops who signed a letter final yr expressing remorse that the authorisation of standalone companies to bless same-sex {couples} had been delayed.
WHAT AWAITS THEM?
The brand new archbishop will probably face the identical persistent divisions on same-sex relationships that Welby tried to steadiness throughout his 11-year tenure.
It has been a matter of competition not simply within the wider Anglican Communion, which incorporates African church buildings the place homosexuality is taboo, but in addition throughout the Church of England.
“The principal drawback for the archbishop of Canterbury … is that he combines the position of the primate of all England, with being the top of the Anglican Communion,” Thompson mentioned. “That is successfully a relic of empire, as a result of that was the context during which the Anglican Communion developed.
“It more and more within the late twentieth century and the early twenty first century has revealed a battle of position which hasn’t been satisfactorily resolved throughout Archbishop Welby’s tenure.”
In his resignation, Welby mentioned his determination made it “clear how severely the Church of England understands the necessity for change.”
“For almost twelve years I’ve struggled to introduce enhancements,” he wrote. “It’s for others to guage what has been completed.”
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