After Disastrous Farewell Speech, Archbishop of Canterbury Goes Quiet for Holidays

Archbishop of Canterbury
Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby addresses the British Parliament’s House of Lords, Dec. 5, 2024. (Video screen grab)

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“It did not intend to overlook the experience of survivors or to make light of the situation – and I am very sorry for having done so. It remains the case that I take both personal and institutional responsibility for the long and retraumatizing period after 2013, and the harm that this has caused survivors.

“I continue to feel a profound sense of shame at the Church of England’s historic safeguarding failures.”

The Archbishop of Canterbury has sat in the House of Lords dating back to the 14th century. Since 1847, 25 fellow bishops have been granted seats in Parliament’s upper chamber, known as the Lords Spiritual: the archbishops of Canterbury and York, and the bishops of Durham, London and Winchester, plus the 21 longest-serving bishops in other dioceses.

The Lords Spiritual can vote, speak in debates and scrutinize legislation, but their position in Parliament is chiefly a reminder that the Church of England remains fully entwined with the establishment: Welby, as Archbishop of Canterbury, crowned King Charles III at his 2023 coronation.

Welby’s final speech may well boost the cause of those who wish to see bishops removed from the House of Lords, and while it has become a convention for the outgoing Archbishop of Canterbury to be given a peerage, enabling them to continue to sit in the Lords after retirement, it seems unlikely that Welby will be given the honor.

Meanwhile, the Church of England and the wider Anglican Communion are focused on the search for Welby’s successor. A protracted process, likely to take at least six months, begins with the Crown Nominations Commission, which makes a recommendation to the prime minister, who then passes it to the king, who makes the actual appointment as both head of state and Supreme Governor of the established Church of England.

The Anglican bishops attending the Lambeth Conference prepare for their group photograph during the 2022 Lambeth Conference at the University of Kent in Canterbury, England, July 29, 2022. (Photo by Neil Turner for the Lambeth Conference)

The CNC consists of the archbishop of York, another senior bishop, six members of the church’s ruling body, the General Synod, three representatives of the diocese of Canterbury and five members chosen from the global Anglican Communion.

Concerns have arisen in the past year about the functioning of the CNC, which also assesses candidates for all Church of England bishoprics. Two-thirds of CNC members must support any nominee, giving outsized power to a minority opposing a candidate’s views on, for instance, blessings on same-sex relationships.

Earlier this year the CNC failed to reach consensus on candidates for the next bishop of Ely, putting the decision off until spring. Last December, a similar problem arose with the appointment of the new bishop of Carlisle, and the see remains vacant.

Lack of consensus could be a particular risk in the nomination of a candidate for Archbishop of Canterbury, especially since Welby gave representatives of the wider, generally more conservative Anglican Communion a bigger presence on the CNC.

Among likely candidates are Martyn Snow, 56, bishop of Leicester, lead bishop for the highly contested issue of sexuality; Graham Usher, 54, bishop of Norwich, keen on environmental issues; and the conservative evangelical candidate, Paul Williams, 56, bishop of Southwell and Nottingham.

Two women are also thought to be in the running: the highly respected Guli Francis-Dehqani, 58, bishop of Chelmsford, an Iranian refugee whose core issue is housing and who has none of Welby’s corporate style, and Rachel Treweek, 61, bishop of Gloucester and the first woman bishop to sit in the Lords.

Stephen Cottrell, the popular archbishop of York who will keep the Anglican ship afloat from now until the appointment of Welby’s successor, is not considered a likely candidate because he is already 66 and would be too close to retirement age at the time of appointment.

Also now being mentioned for Canterbury is the bishop of Newcastle, Helen-Ann Hartley, the only bishop to call publicly for Welby’s resignation last month. A petition is now doing the rounds in England, calling for her to be appointed.

This article originally appeared here.

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CatherinePepinster@churchleaders.com'
Catherine Pepinster
Catherine Pepinster is the author of “Defenders of the Faith – the British Monarchy, Religion and the Next Coronation,” published by Hodder and Stoughton.

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