Welby’s tenure as Archbishop of Canterbury will end after an evensong service in Lambeth Palace
By Kaya Burgess, Religious Affairs Correspondent
THE TIMES
January 05 2025
Justin Welby will lay down his crozier to bring his tenure as archbishop to a close
Justin Welby will not be able to officiate as a priest after he steps down as Archbishop of Canterbury on Monday unless he seeks special permission from a bishop, under church rules.
Welby’s tenure as the 105th archbishop formally comes to a close at the end of Monday, the feast of Epiphany in the Christian calendar. On Tuesday his duties will pass to the Archbishop of York, the Most Rev Stephen Cottrell, who will act as a caretaker.
The outgoing archbishop, who was forced to resign after criticism over his handling of abuse allegations, will spend Monday privately at Lambeth Palace. He is due to attend a lunchtime Eucharist at the palace chapel and will take part in an evensong service at the end of the day. At this service, he will lay down his crozier, the hooked staff carried by bishops, a symbolic gesture that will bring his 11-year tenure to an end.
Welby spent his final Christmas as archbishop privately with family, and did not deliver his usual Christmas Day sermon in Canterbury Cathedral or broadcast his usual New Year’s Day message via the BBC.
Most of his archiepiscopal duties will pass to Cottrell while some will be taken on by the Bishop of London, the Right Rev Sarah Mullally. His duties in the Diocese of Canterbury will pass to the Bishop of Dover, the Right Rev Rose Hudson-Wilkin. They will also take up these duties on Tuesday.
When a priest leaves office or retires, they may not officiate at services or act as a priest unless they have been granted permission to officiate by a bishop. This allows them to carry out priestly duties in that bishop’s diocese.
Welby will therefore not be able to officiate as a priest after Monday. A source said that he would not “immediately or automatically” be granted permission to officiate, but could apply “following a period of discernment … in conjunction with a diocesan bishop”.
Welby was criticised for how he dealt with allegations of abuse by John Smyth, who beat boys
It remains to be seen whether any bishop would grant Welby this permission so soon after his resignation over a safeguarding scandal.
Welby’s resignation came after he faced criticism in a report by Keith Makin, a former social services director, over how he and other senior church leaders handled allegations of abuse against John Smyth, a Christian barrister who beat boys. Welby was assured by colleagues that police had been informed, but was criticised for not doing more to ensure Smyth was being robustly investigated and brought to justice.
The report alleged that a number of other priests, not including Welby, knew a significant amount about Smyth’s abuse for decades but did not report him. Many of these individuals have since had their permission to officiate suspended pending further investigations.
It is not known where Welby and his family will live after leaving Lambeth Palace, though they are understood to have a home in France. Cottrell will still be based as Bishopthorpe Palace in York.
Stephen Cottrell, the Archbishop of York, will take over Welby’s duties until a replacement is appointed
The process to appoint his successor has already begun, with members set to be elected to the highly confidential Crown Nominations Commission. Its 17-strong committee, led by a former head of MI5, will draw up a longlist and a shortlist, and conduct interviews, all behind closed doors. A name is not due to be announced until the autumn.
Cottrell will perform the duties of the Archbishop of Canterbury until then, but at 66 he is considered too close to the retirement age of 70 to be in the running for the job permanently. He has so far ridden out a storm of calls for his own resignation, after fierce criticism over his own handling of sexual and domestic abuse cases that were brought to his attention in the past.
Gavin Drake, a former General Synod member who has campaigned for the church to overhaul its safeguarding policies, said: “Victims and survivors of church-related abuse, and those who advocate for them, know all too well just how deeply involved Cottrell is in the mismanagement of safeguarding fiascos.”
Welby was not considered a frontrunner to be Archbishop of Canterbury when Lord Williams of Oystermouth announced his retirement in 2012, meaning that the next appointee may also be a surprise.
The Bishop of Leicester, the Right Rev Martyn Snow, and the Bishop of Southwell and Nottingham, the Right Rev Paul Williams, have been touted as possible candidates. Both hail from the more conservative wing of the church.
The Iranian-born Bishop of Chelmsford, the Right Rev Guli Francis-Dehqani, has also been hailed as a possible first female archbishop, though it is feared that some parts of the global communion would not welcome a woman as the spiritual head of the world’s 85 million Anglicans.
Mullally has also been touted as a potential candidate, as has the Bishop of Norwich, the Right Rev Graham Usher
Comments