The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, resigned on Tuesday over the abuse cover-up scandal, an unprecedented moment for the Church of England.
Religious experts say he becomes the first leader of the church, as well as the broader Anglican Communion of 85 million Christians worldwide, to be singled out in this way.
Announcing that he was leaving “in grief”, Welby said that the timing of his departure would be decided after a review of his remaining obligations was completed.
The 68-year-old had held the post since 2013 and was expected to retire around the age of 70.
How has the list of candidates been shortened?
The Crown Nominations Committee will be appointed after a period of consultation on the needs of the Church of England, as well as the Anglican Communion.
The committee will consist of 17 voting members, including the Archbishop of York, who is the second most senior bishop in the institution, another bishop elected by the House of Bishops, and representatives of the Anglican Communion, the Diocese of Canterbury and the Church of England. Governing body of the Church – General Synod.
It will be chaired by an Anglican, ideally in public life, chosen by Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
David Thompson, emeritus professor of modern church history at the University of Cambridge, told Reuters it could take a few months to assemble the committee, adding that the entire process could take up to six months.
What does the committee do?
The committee will make a recommendation to Starmer. If the Prime Minister accepts it, he will put the name forward to King Charles, who is supreme governor of the Church of England.
Who are the possible successors?
Three bishops have been named as Welby’s successor as the 106th Archbishop of Canterbury: Bishop Martin Snow of Leicester, Bishop Graham Ussher of Norwich and Bishop Guli Francis-Dehkani of Chelmsford.
Snow abstained from a Church Assembly vote on blessings for gay couples, while Usher is in favor of gay rights and has pushed for higher taxes on fossil-fuel companies.
Francis-Dehkani, who was appointed in 2017, just three years after the first female bishop was appointed, was born in Iran and has described how her brother was murdered after the Iranian revolution.
If selected, she will be the first woman to become an archbishop.
Francis-Dehkani and Ussher were among 44 bishops who signed a letter last year expressing regret that there had been delays in the authorization of standalone services to bless same-sex couples.
What awaits them?
The new archbishop will likely face the same persistent divisions over gay relationships that Welby tried to balance during his 11-year tenure.
This has been a subject of controversy not only in the wider Anglican Communion, including African churches where homosexuality is taboo, but also within the Church of England.
“The main problem for the Archbishop of Canterbury is that he combines the role of Primate of the whole of England with that of head of the Anglican Communion,” Thompson said. “It is effectively a relic of the empire, because that was the context in which the Anglican Communion developed.
“The late 20th and early 21st centuries have increasingly revealed role conflicts that have not been satisfactorily resolved during Archbishop Welby’s tenure.”
In his resignation, Welby said that his decision made it clear “how seriously the Church of England understands the need for change.”
“For nearly twelve years I have struggled to bring about reform,” he wrote. “It is up to others to judge what has been done.”
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