A difficult choice

Further delays postpone the appointment of the successor of Rowan Williams, the current archbishop of Cambridge, leader of the Anglican community, due to retire at the end of December. The "Crown Nominations Commission", composed by sixteen members of the "Church of England", entrusted with finding the new leader of the Anglican Communion, is reportedly unable to reach an agreement on a second candidate to propose to Prime Minister David Cameron for his definitive approval, and for this reason there hasn’t yet been an official announcement. The second candidacy was expected in mid-October, but a spokesperson of the Church of England confirms that it could be postponed to November or December. Clifford Longley, former religious correspondent for the ‘Times’ and the "Daily Telegraph", BBC commentator, consultant of the Catholic weekly "Tablet", told SIR Europe correspondent Silvia Guazzetti why it’s so hard for the Church of England to find a new spiritual leader called to guide the Anglican Communion in the coming years. Furthermore, Rowan Williams, will hand over to Clifford Longley the "Lambeth degree of Masters of letters": an important recognition, considering that the Anglican Ecclesiastic authorities rarely award a journalistic report, and in his case, a Catholic representative. The committee tasked with deciding the successor of Rowan Williams is said to have reached an agreement on the name of the first candidate to be sent to the prime minister, the bishop of Durham Justin Welby. But an agreement on the second is yet to be reached. Why are two names necessary? "Cameron will certainly choose the first name, but at least technically he must be given the possibility of refusing the first name, although there is a silent agreement that he never will, limiting himself to approving the choice of the Committee. Naturally, the indiscretions on the first and second name are just rumours, namely, suppositions that could not be grounded. The 16-member Commission must reach an agreement endorsed by two thirds of its members on two candidates".Reportedly, according to the British press, the second candidate is the archbishop of York, John Sentamu, who however is said not to enjoy unanimous support. Why? "I think a factor is his age. The Archbishop of York is 62 years old and usually the Archbishop of Canterbury retires at 65-70 years. Thus the Archbishop of York would remain in office for only 5 years, while we would like someone who remained at least 10-12 years to provide continuity. John Sentamu is not universally popular. The fact that he is an African is a problem, although no one would admit it. He doesn’t seem English, he doesn’t speak English as a person of the middle class, educated at Oxford or Cambridge where this country’s elite is formed. Six members belong to the Crown Nominations Commission of the Archdiocese of Canterbury and are therefore quite conservative".The new archbishop of Canterbury has a difficult task…"Everyone agrees that it’s an impossible job. And if the candidacy of Justin Welby were true, it would be a wonderful choice. He is an evangelical with Catholic affinities. He is an enthusiast of the Social Doctrine of the Catholic Church. He has had experience in Africa and in the industry sector. Perhaps the members of the Committee especially value his overarching experience. Africa is an important – yet difficult – part of the Anglican Communion because some areas of the African Church are very conservative and, therefore, contrary to the ordination of homosexual pastors". Will the successor of Rowan Williams manage to keep the Church of England united? "It doesn’t depend on him but on the Church, on whether the various members of the Church are willing to pay the price to set aside their own convictions to pursue unity, or if they consider it an excessively high price. The Anglican Church of Nigeria, that is very conservative, and the American Episcopal Church, represent the two extremes of this Communion, which is very liberal. They follow opposite directions and I suspect that the American Church could leave the Anglican Communion". What are the "CNC" members seeking in the new archbishop?"They want someone who is able to get along with different factions of the Church of England and who has respect for different positions. Someone who has these features is appreciated by the different currents of the Church of England, and will also have a good relationship with the Catholic Church". Why did Rowan Williams decide to resign?"I think he appreciates academic life and that if he had waited longer, it would have been too late to return to the academic environment. He also found the role of the primate excessively exacting and he thinks that somehow he has failed, as he said in some recent interviews. In fact, I think he did much better than he thinks. Some jobs are unfeasible. It is the case of the Archbishop of Canterbury: both for Rowan Williams, and his successor".