Thursday, November 08, 2012

Choosing Rowan Williams’ successor

Rowan WilliamsAs he approaches the end of his mandate, the theologian, poet and Primate of the Church of England, Rowan Douglas Williams conceded an interview to Daniela Sala, published in the Dehonian Fathers’s magazine, in which he talks about the process of renewal he put into practice into practice in his ten years as leader of the Church.
 
It is now only a question of weeks, if not days, before the name of Rowan Williams’ successor is revealed. The press office of the Church of England has confirmed that the identity of its new leader will be announced before Christmas and has also confirmed the list of names newspapers have been publishing. The press has presented the list of candidates - from which the Crown Nominations Commission will have to choose two to and present to the British prime minister - as certain.
 
So the list of names which English newspapers see as favourites to win, with Justin Welby leading the way, has been confirmed. According to the Church of England press office, the names printed in the newspapers are correct because they correspond to the most important dioceses and personalities of this Communion.
 
Other than the Bishop of Durham, Justin Welby - who lived in Africa for many years and supports the ordination of women bishops - other potential successor to Rowan Williams are: the Ugandan Archbishop of New York, John Sentamu, who is in favour of traditional values but not completely against women bishops and whose style is miles away from that of the English establishment and the Archbishop of London, Richard Chartres, a friend of Prince Charles’ who has lukewarm feelings about the ordination of women bishops.
 
Other favourites include the 52 year old Bishop of Coventry, Christopher Cocksworth, who is close to the Church of England’s evangelical sphere and the Bishop of Norwich, Graham James, who clashed with the government over same-sex marriage and welfare cuts.
 
Luke Coppen, Editor of The Catholic Herald explained to SIR Europa, the news agency of the Italian Episcopal Conference (CEI) that: “It is highly unlikely that the next archbishop of Canterbury will be as close to the Catholic Church as Rowan Williams, who has very close ties indeed with Benedict XVI.”