wfn.org | Chair for Commission to select new Archbishop of Canterbury Named

[Worldwide Faith News <wfn@igc.org>]

ACNS 2919 - ACNS SPECIAL REPORT - 26 March 2002

Chair of the Crown Appointments Commission is selected

By Matthew Davies

The Right Honourable Dame Elizabeth Butler-Sloss has been appointed to be
Chair of the Crown Appointments Commission (CAC), the body that oversees the
selection of a new Archbishop of Canterbury. The Commission, which consists
of thirteen voting members and three non-voting members, is now complete
after the Prime Minister's announcement earlier today.

Dame Butler-Sloss is an honorary fellow of the Royal College of Physicians,
Medicine and Psychiatry and is actively involved with the Institute of
Family Therapy and the National Association of Child-Care Centres. She is a
lay member of the Church of England, has been President of the Family
Division since 1999 and chairs the Council of St Paul's Cathedral.

The Secretary General of the Anglican Consultative Council and a non-voting
member of the CAC, the Revd Canon John L Peterson, said, "I am thrilled with
the appointment of Dame Elizabeth Butler-Sloss. She will bring a tremendous
breadth to the Commission and I look forward to working with her."

Dame Butler-Sloss has been recognised for her significant contribution to
the judiciary and development of the law. In 1997 and 1998, she became a
familiar name in the media as a result of her leadership in the Cleveland
child abuse inquiry, and again in the following year with her rise to the
Court of Appeal.

A spokesman from Church House, the head office of the Church of England,
said, "With this important appointment, the process of identifying the next
Archbishop of Canterbury enters a new phase. The make-up of the Crown
Appointments Commission is now complete and our thoughts and prayers will be
with all its members as they undertake the complex and demanding challenges
that lie ahead of them."

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