The new Archbishop of Canterbury is predicted to be published on Friday, nearly a year on from Justin Welby’s resignation.
Welby resigned from the role in November 2024 over his failure to record prolific child abuser John Smyth.
The world-renowned role is considered as the spiritual leader of the Anglican church, and they also have a seat in the House of Lords. They are selected by His Majesty, The King, as Supreme Governor of the Church of England, on the suggestion of the Crown Nominations Commission (CNC).
A Crown Nominations Commission is set up to find and recommend a preferred candidate to the Prime Minister, who is constitutionally tasked with advising the King on the appointment, following the resignation of an Archbishop of Canterbury.
The name of the Archbishop-designate will be revealed by the Prime Minister’s office following King Charles’ approval of the selected applicant.
Two women are currently favored to lead the Church of England and serve as the emblematic representation of the 85 million Anglicans around the world.
According to Reuters, two prominent candidates are Iranian-born Bishop Guli Francis-Dehqani, who arrived in Britain as a refugee with her parents after the Islamic Revolution of 1979, and Bishop Rachel Treweek, the CoE’s first-ever female diocesan bishop.
Due to a convoluted vetting process, the CoE has taken almost a year to make its decision, in contrast to the Catholic Church, which elected Pope Leo just 17 days following Francis’ death.
Former MI5 espionage chief Jonathan Evans, who was appointed by the government to chair the 20-member screening panel, stated in July that he did not want to see a list of applicants who were all “white, Oxbridge, male, and from the southeast of England.”
Five delegates from the worldwide Anglican Communion, three from Canterbury, and six from the CoE’s governing body made up the commission’s 17 voting members.
