Dr Rowan Williams is understood to have told friends he is ready to quit the highest office in the Church of England to pursue a life in academia.After Dr Williams rams the Anglican Covenant through General Synod of the Church of England, he will leave the wreckage to be cleaned up by his successor.
The news will trigger intense plotting behind the scenes over who should succeed the 61-year-old archbishop, who is not required to retire until he is 70.
....
Sources close to the archbishop say he will leave after the Queen's Diamond Jubilee next June and having seen the Church finally pass legislation to allow women to become bishops.
It is understood that Trinity College, Cambridge, is preparing to create a professorship for Dr Williams, who studied theology and was a chaplain at the university.
The archbishop wants to see through Synod the establishment of women bishops, but will women bishops serve with the same authority as male bishops?
This could allow for John Sentamu, the Archbishop of York, to succeed him in a caretaker role as the Ugandan-born cleric is one year older than the Archbishop of Canterbury.The word from friends in England on the two names mentioned above is, 'Nooo!'
Bishop Chartres has been telling clergy that such a move could be beneficial for the Church, though the Bishop of London would also be one of the front-runners himself.
H/T to Peter Owen at Thinking Anglicans.
I had no idea we could be STUCK w/ +++RW for almost 10 years! :-0 [I thought he was out-the-door in 2013, after no more than 10 years on the job.]
ReplyDeleteI'm really not worried that either of the two names mentioned will get the job. They're not "Canterbury-bi'le" ;-p
JCF, despite all the 'it is understood' qualifications in the article, I'm inclined to think there's some basis to the report.
ReplyDeleteAs to the two names mentioned, I'm not as optimistic as you that neither will be named.
I can hear the knives sharpening already.
ReplyDeleteYes, indeed. I hear the grinder, too.
ReplyDeleteThat should give him enough time to do his penance. He's going to have an awful lot of Hail Marys to say after the last 10 years.
ReplyDeleteThe rumor has been circulating for months here and abroad. That, along with the forecast that the Anglican Contract will not pass a majority of the Synods in the Provinces. What to do when one paints oneself into a corner that one has constructed all by oneself? Well, resignation is one option.
ReplyDeleteAs to Sentamu or Chartres, well, there might still be a David tending sheep somewhere in the UK to whom God is already whispering.
Bishop Chartres has been telling clergy that such a move could be beneficial for the Church, though the Bishop of London would also be one of the front-runners himself.
ReplyDeleteIf the above is true, Chartres may have talked himself out of the job.
Oh for a David!
Wynne-Jones is just stirring the pot up. I've commented in Integrity Lightspeed about this, but as most of you don't have access to it, I'll just say that Chartres is too old, Sentamu is barely possible but probably too old and has also had health problems. Most of the Bishops who are in the House of Lords are too old. Of the younger ones, the ones to watch are Christopher Cocksworth, Bishop of Coventry and Nick Baines, the Bishop of Bradford. The latter would be very good, the former seems OK.
ReplyDeleteI was on a TV interview program with Wynne-Jones early on a Sunday morning in 2003 when Bp. Robinson's confirmation by the House of Deputies was in doubt. He was not sparkling and I think he may have had a long night...
Oh, and Rowan said a few months ago that he was not intending to serve until he was obliged to retire, at 70. So that's old news too.
If there's interest I'll publish my longer reasoning on my blog and point everyone there.
Chris, if you publish, I will link. I admit that the article has something of wishful thinking about it, like what Wynne-Jones might want to happen.
ReplyDeleteDoesn't matter.
ReplyDeleteThe rumour mill is what passes for management in the CofE. Whoever succeds him and whenever, they will be as hidebound as he has become, wrapped up in protocols and the neccesity of being as nice as possible to everyone however hypocritical it appears.
well my thoughts on this matter are here if that's ok with you :-)
ReplyDeletehttp://mrcatolick.wordpress.com/2011/09/11/rowan-to-resign-what-next/
Have read your new post, Chris. Where, as hypothetical ABC, do you suppose Sentamu might stand on Ugandan affairs?
ReplyDeleteThemethatisme, why doesn't Rowan include Episcopalians amongst the folks he must be nice to? All he ever does is scold us and criticize us.
ReplyDeleteMr CatOLick, it's very much okay. I liked your thoughts. Here's a clickable link.
Chris, I'm off to read your post.
Lapinbizarre: I'm sorry to confess that I do not know in any detail what Sentamu's position on Uganda is. He was persecuted under Idi Amin, and thus came here, so is really Idi Amin's gift to the Church of England.
ReplyDeleteIt's somewhat like that old joke about the selection committee for a parish who were considering a candidate for the Rectorship. One member said, "I think we should ask him what his position on sin is." and another member said, "I think he's against it."
Here's the link to Chris Hansen's post with further commentary on how long Archbishops of Canterbury serve and when they choose to retire.
ReplyDeleteChris, I would hope that Sentamu would not be appointed, whatever his position on Uganda.
Mimi: I think that the reaction to any move to appoint Sentamu would be pretty negative overall. He's not got a great number of fans in the C of E. Plus, as I say, he's just on the cusp of being too old. I think he'll end his ecclesiastical career in York.
ReplyDeleteWe can all now breathe a bit easier.
He doesn't have to be nice to you, nor does any future ABC, you have bugger all say in the appointments process...although that may be up for question under the covenant, but then you lot won't be part of that little set up, you naughty dissenters you.
ReplyDeleteI suspect that as the Covenant will hold sway perhaps in the Diocese of Canterbury and not much further, whether anyone else has a say in who the ABC turns out to be is not very important.
ReplyDeleteI'm boning up for a presentation of the Covenant to my Deanery Synod and the vote (against, I hope) in Diocesan Synod in March. By that time it should be relatively clear what the Episcopal Church will do at General Convention next year.