Public invited to suggest names for next archbishop

Following Justin Welby's resignation, the public is invited to offer suggestions for the next Archbishop of Canterbury. Mr. Welby stepped down from the Church of England's highest position in January after a scathing report revealed a widespread child abuse case linked to the church.

His successor will be the 106th person to hold the position, which is the spiritual leader of the global Anglican Communion. Traditionally, candidates have typically held senior leadership positions within the Church or other Anglican institutions. They must be at least 30 years old and usually no more than 70 years old.

Suggestions for candidates can be submitted to the Crown Nominations Commission (CNC), which is responsible for nominating the new Archbishop. The Church stated that the consultation will last until March 28 and aims to "gather the views of people from across the Church of England and the wider Anglican Communion on the qualities, skills and experience needed for the role."

There will be no public job advertisement for people to put themselves forward, but rather a process of "inviting" potential candidates to participate in the selection process. The public can submit their opinions on the Church of England website.

The 20-member CNC panel will be responsible for selecting the next Archbishop of Canterbury, and the panel has not yet been formally established. For the first time, the panel will include five members from overseas Anglican churches. The panel will meet in May, July and September to "pray, reflect and nominate candidates," and the final selection needs to obtain two-thirds of the votes of the 17 voting members. Afterwards, the list of candidates will be submitted to the Prime Minister, who will then submit it to the King for approval.

Mr. Welby resigned due to the Church's handling of abuser John Smyth. A report stated that Smyth carried out brutal sexual, physical and mental abuse against more than 120 boys and young men since the late 1970s. The report stated that Mr. Welby bore "personal and moral responsibility" for this and "could and should have done more."

Initially, Mr. Welby refused calls to resign, but on November 12, he said he was stepping down "with grief for all the victims and survivors of abuse." However, in early December, Mr. Welby made a short farewell speech in the House of Lords containing some jokes, which caused "revulsion" among abuse victims. Mr. Welby apologized for this the next day. Prior to leaving office, he did not deliver a Christmas sermon at Canterbury Cathedral, nor did he broadcast a New Year's message via the BBC as usual.