C of E ‘split’ over choice of new Archbishop

The Crown Nominations Commission (CNC) has been meeting in secret in a bid to find a successor to Dr Williams, with Archbishop of York Dr John Sentamu and the Rt Rev Nick Baines, Bishop of Bradford, among those seen as likely candidates.

A decision had been expected by last Friday and the lack of any concrete information from those deliberations has prompted Dr Giles Fraser, the former canon chancellor of St Paul’s Cathedral, to challenge the need for secrecy. He also called for open election to avoid the process looking “like an Establishment stitch-up”.

But in a statement the CNC said: “This week’s meeting of the Crown Nominations Commission (CNC) has been accompanied by much speculation about possible candidates and the likely timing of an announcement of the name of who will succeed Dr Rowan Williams as Archbishop of Canterbury when he steps down to become Master of Magdalene College.

“The CNC is an elected, prayerful body. Its meetings are necessarily confidential to enable members to fulfil their important responsibilities for discerning who should undertake this major national and international role. Previous official briefings have indicated that an announcement is expected during the autumn and that remains the case; the work of the Commission continues. There will be no comment on any speculation about candidates or about the CNC’s deliberations. Dr Williams remains in office until the end of December.”