by Julian Mann, Christian Today
The Church of England is one step closer to appointing its first female Archbishop of Canterbury now that the Bishop of Norwich, Graham Usher, has ruled himself out.
As a member of the Crown Nominations Commission (CNC) for the See of Canterbury, which is due to have its first meeting in May, Bishop Usher is ineligible for the post. After an election by the House of Bishops, he joins the Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell, as the second episcopal member of the Canterbury CNC.
Bishop Usher said last week: “Despite speculation in recent months, I have felt no sense of inner calling to be Archbishop of Canterbury. What has remained constant is God’s continued faithful call to serve the people and parishes of the wonderful diocese of Norwich, as well as the national and international environmental roles I have, all of which bring me much joy.”
The road to Canterbury is therefore now open for the female front-runner, the Iranian-born Bishop of Chelmsford, Dr Guli Francis-Dehqani.
Her chances of being appointed to Canterbury this autumn got a significant boost in January when the Bishop of Dover, Rose Hudson-Wilkin, ruled herself out in a television interview.
In an interview with ITV Meridian after the publication of her memoir, The Girl from Montego Bay, the C of E’s first female black bishop said: “You are definitely not looking at the next Archbishop of Canterbury. Who in their right mind would want to take on a role like that and in particular how we have just treated our Archbishop?”
She said she did not believe Justin Welby should have resigned as Archbishop of Canterbury after the publication last November of the Makin Review into the John Smyth abuse scandal: “I did not want Archbishop Justin to resign. I am very sad that he has resigned. I think that if we are not careful what we have done is to scapegoat one individual.”