wfn.org | Archbishop of Canterbury to retire this year

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2002-002

Archbishop of Canterbury to retire this year

by Jan Nunley
jnunley@episcopalchurch.org

     (ENS) The Archbishop of Canterbury, George Carey, has officially announced 
his retirement.

     A press release from Lambeth Palace states that "his intentions have been 
conveyed to the Queen, who is Supreme Governor of the Church of England and who 
formally appoints an Archbishop of Canterbury." The decision will take effect on 
October 31, 2002.

     "By the end of October I shall have served eleven and half years in a 
demanding yet wonderfully absorbing and rewarding post," Carey commented in the 
statement. "I feel certain this will be the right and proper time to stand down. 
I look forward to exciting opportunities and challenges in the coming months, and 
then to fresh ones in the years that follow."

Appreciation

     Carey's announcement prompted statements of appreciation from Anglican 
leaders around the world.

     "His passion for the Gospel and dedication to the faithfulness and unity of 
the church, together with his insistence that the suffering world is the proper 
sphere of our common engagement, have made George Carey an inestimable gift to 
the Anglican Communion and beyond," said Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold of the 
Episcopal Church (USA). " I am deeply grateful for his ministry, together with 
that of his wife, Eileen, as are countless Episcopalians who have come to know 
and love them through their frequent visits to our shores."

     "Archbishop George Carey will be greatly missed worldwide and especially in 
Africa where he has consistently supported our efforts to address the problem of 
unpayable debt which is such a burden to developing countries," remarked 
Archbishop Njongonkulu Ndungane of Cape Town. "We are also mindful of his support 
in our drive to facilitate a generation without AIDS. More importantly we have, 
through his visits to this country, Namibia and Mozambique, come to appreciate 
his commitment to unifying the global communion of more than 70 million Anglicans 
and his efforts towards global peace." 

Nominations this spring

     Carey, who will be 67 in November 2002, was appointed the 103rd archbishop 
of Canterbury in 1991. He will continue to carry out all the duties and 
responsibilities of the office, both for the Church of England and the Anglican 
Communion, until autumn. A committee under Lord Hurd recently recommended some 
changes that would enhance the international responsibilities of the position. 

     The Crown Appointments Commission will meet this spring to consider 
nominations for Carey's successor. Two names will be forwarded to Britain's prime 
minister, Tony Blair, who will propose one for appointment by the Queen. 
Traditionally, adherents of the church's Anglo-Catholic wing alternate with 
evangelicals, such as Carey. 

     Among those frequently identified in the British press as "front runners" 
for the position are Rowan Williams, archbishop of the Church in Wales; 
Pakistani-born Michael Nazir-Ali, bishop of Rochester; Christopher Herbert, 
bishop of St. Albans;  Richard Chartres, bishop of London; and David Hope, 
archbishop of York. 

--The Rev. Jan Nunley is deputy director of Episcopal News Service.