As he approaches the end of his mandate, the
theologian, poet and Primate of the Church of England, Rowan Douglas
Williams conceded an interview to Daniela Sala, published in the
Dehonian Fathers’s magazine, in which he talks about the process of
renewal he put into practice into practice in his ten years as leader of
the Church.
It is now only a question of weeks, if not days,
before the name of Rowan Williams’ successor is revealed. The press
office of the Church of England has confirmed that the identity of its
new leader will be announced before Christmas and has also confirmed the
list of names newspapers have been publishing. The press has presented
the list of candidates - from which the Crown Nominations Commission
will have to choose two to and present to the British prime minister -
as certain.
So the list of names which English newspapers see
as favourites to win, with Justin Welby leading the way, has been
confirmed. According to the Church of England press office, the names
printed in the newspapers are correct because they correspond to the
most important dioceses and personalities of this Communion.
Other than the Bishop of Durham, Justin Welby -
who lived in Africa for many years and supports the ordination of women
bishops - other potential successor to Rowan Williams are: the Ugandan
Archbishop of New York, John Sentamu, who is in favour of traditional
values but not completely against women bishops and whose style is miles
away from that of the English establishment and the Archbishop of
London, Richard Chartres, a friend of Prince Charles’ who has lukewarm
feelings about the ordination of women bishops.
Other favourites include the 52 year old Bishop of
Coventry, Christopher Cocksworth, who is close to the Church of
England’s evangelical sphere and the Bishop of Norwich, Graham James,
who clashed with the government over same-sex marriage and welfare cuts.
Luke Coppen, Editor of The Catholic Herald explained to SIR Europa,
the news agency of the Italian Episcopal Conference (CEI) that: “It is
highly unlikely that the next archbishop of Canterbury will be as close
to the Catholic Church as Rowan Williams, who has very close ties indeed
with Benedict XVI.”