London:
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, resigned on Tuesday over an abuse cover-up scandal, marking an unprecedented moment for the Church of England.
He becomes the first leader of the church, as well as the wider Anglican community of 85 million Christians worldwide, to be expelled in this way, religious experts say.
Welby announced that he is leaving 'with sadness' and that the timing of his departure will be determined once a review of his remaining commitments has been completed.
The 68-year-old has held the role since 2013 and is expected to retire around the age of 70.
HOW IS THE LIST OF CANDIDATES REDUCED?
A period of consultation on the needs of the Church of England, as well as the Anglican Communion, will be followed by the appointment of a Crown Nominations Committee.
The committee will consist of seventeen voting members, including the Archbishop of York, 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 governing body of the church: the General Synod.
It will be chaired by an Anglican, ideally in public life, chosen by Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
Putting together the committee could take several months, David Thompson, emeritus professor of modern church history at the University of Cambridge, told Reuters, adding that the entire process could take up to six months.
WHAT IS THE COMMISSION DOING?
The committee will provide advice to Starmer. If the Prime Minister accepts, he will pass the name on to King Charles, the supreme governor of the Church of England.
WHO ARE POSSIBLE SUCCESSORS?
Three bishops have been tipped to succeed Welby as 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 from voting at a church meeting on blessing gay couples, while Usher supports gay rights and has pushed for higher taxes on fossil fuel companies.
Francis-Dehqani, who was ordained in 2017, just three years after the first female bishop was appointed, was born in Iran and has spoken about how her brother was murdered in the aftermath of the Iranian revolution.
If selected, she would be the first woman to become archbishop.
Francis-Dehqani and Usher were among 44 bishops who signed a letter last year expressing regret that approval of stand-alone services to bless same-sex couples had been delayed.
WHAT awaits them?
The new archbishop will likely face the same persistent divisions over same-sex relationships that Welby tried to offset during his 11-year term.
It has been a point of contention not only within the wider Anglican community, which includes 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 all England with being head of the Anglican Communion,” Thompson said. 'This is in fact a remnant of empire, because that was the context in which the Anglican Communion developed.
“The late 20th and early 21st centuries have increasingly revealed a role conflict that was not satisfactorily resolved during Archbishop Welby's tenure.”
In his resignation, Welby said his decision “made clear how seriously the Church of England understands the need for change.”
“For almost twelve years I have struggled to make improvements,” he wrote. “It is for others to judge what has been done.”
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