The next Archbishop of Canterbury is set to be unveiled on Friday, with two women among the frontrunners for the first time in the role’s 1,400-year history.
The announcement will come nearly a year after Justin Welby resigned from the role due to a damning review into the Church of England’s (CoE) handling of a sexual abuse scandal.
The process for choosing the new archbishop is incredibly secretive, being led by a former MI5 spy.
Here’s what you need to know.
Who are the favourites?
There is no official list of candidates, but bookmakers suggest leading contenders include two female diocesan bishops, Rachel Treweek and Guli Francis-Dehqani.
Revd Treweek became the CoE’s first female diocesan bishop in 2015 as the 41st Bishop of Gloucester, having started her life in ordained ministry in 1994.
Image: Rachel Treweek after becoming a bishop in 2015. Pic: Nick Ansell/PA
During her time as bishop, she has launched two campaigns: #Liedentity, aimed at raising awareness of body image anxiety in young people and Fighting for Women’s Justice, aimed at improving the justice system for women.
Another potential candidate is Iranian-born Bishop Guli Francis-Dehqani, who came to the UK aged 13 as a refugee with her parents following the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Image: Guli Francis-Dehqani speaking to Sky News in 2023
Dr Francis-Dehqani is currently lead bishop for housing and is chair of the board of the Church Army.
The Bishop of Leicester, Reverend Martyn Snow, is also a favourite, having served there since 2016.
He was previously the lead bishop for “living in love and faith”, which required him to lead the CoE’s contentious process to bless same-sex couples, but he stepped down earlier this year, saying he could not unite the Church.
Pete Wilcox, Bishop of Sheffield, has reportedly emerged as another frontrunner, having been ordained for more than 30 years. He is also the author of three books and a former senior lecturer in creative writing at Manchester Metropolitan University.
A female archbishop wouldn’t be entirely popular
It’s the first time women are eligible for the role, as female bishops weren’t consecrated by the CoE when the last archbishop was chosen in 2013.
A decade on from when women started being consecrated, they now make up close to a third of all bishops in England.
Image: Lambeth Palace, where the archbishop resides. Pic: iStock
But there are concerns that some conservative Christians would struggle to accept a woman as the symbolic figurehead for 85 million Anglicans worldwide.
The conservative Global Anglican Future Conference, which says it represents the majority of Anglicans worldwide, believes only men should be consecrated as bishops.
What are the job requirements for archbishop?
In June, the Diocese of Canterbury published a so-called ‘statement of needs’ setting out a long list of requirements for the 106th archbishop.
They said the next archbishop would need to be:
• A person with “theological depth” who is a strong communicator with people of all ages and backgrounds.
• Someone of the “utmost integrity who is able to speak honestly” about issues and injustices in the church.
• A “servant leader who shows compassion towards the disadvantaged and marginalised”.
• “Unapologetic about offering a Christian perspective to local, national, and international dialogue”.
• Someone with a willingness to ordain and consecrate both men and women, support the ministry of both, and may themselves be male or female.
• Someone who previously “worked, and will continue to work constructively” around ongoing discussions around blessing services for same-sex couples, but also someone who can “embrace” both those who support and oppose same-sex marriage in the church.
How is the archbishop chosen?
The archbishop is chosen by the Crown Nominations Commission, a committee chaired by Jonathan Evans, a former director-general of the MI5 security service.
The commission is made up of 17 voting members, including five representatives from the global Anglican Communion, three from Canterbury, and six from the CoE’s governing body.
After the group reaches a two-thirds majority on two preferred candidates, the nominations are presented to the prime minister, who selects one to be formally appointed by the King.
Candidates must be aged at least 30 and generally younger than 70, and historically they have been people already holding senior leadership roles in the Church or elsewhere in the Anglican Communion.
Mr Evans previously said he wanted to avoid a list of candidates where all were “white, Oxbridge, male and come from the southeast of England”.
What does the Archbishop of Canterbury do?
The Archbishop of Canterbury is the most senior leader of the Church of England, below the King, who is its supreme governor.
They preside over the church and its work in the southern two-thirds of England, while the Archbishop of York leads in the north.
Along with all bishops, the archbishops determine the direction of the church and make decisions on its role in society.
They also chair the General Synod, which is the church’s ruling committee – made up of bishops, clergy, and laity – that meets twice a year to discuss church law and matters of public interest.
The Archbishop of Canterbury sits in the House of Lords as a ‘Lord Spiritual’, acts as patron for various organisations and charities, and is in charge of the Anglican chaplains for each of the British Armed Forces.
It’s just gone 7.30pm – and outside a synagogue in north Manchester, we’ve heard the shofar, a ceremonial horn, being blown to mark the end of the long day of prayers.
The streets, which had been so quiet all day, fill with people and families.
We’re just minutes away from where the attack took place.
But people haven’t had their phones on in synagogue – and we find ourselves in the slightly surreal position of having to tell people what happened to members of their community, just a few roads away.
Spotify
This content is provided by Spotify, which may be using cookies and other technologies.
To show you this content, we need your permission to use cookies.
You can use the buttons below to amend your preferences to enable Spotify cookies or to allow those cookies just once.
You can change your settings at any time via the Privacy Options.
Unfortunately we have been unable to verify if you have consented to Spotify cookies.
To view this content you can use the button below to allow Spotify cookies for this session only.
Earlier in the day on these streets, we saw additional police patrols, with officers telling us they were here to reassure members of the public.
But people are accustomed to seeing security here.
Both paid and volunteer security staff, in their hi-vis jackets, are a permanent fixture outside every synagogue.
It’s to help protect a community that, even before this attack, has felt under threat.
Image: ‘The security is not the solution,’ this man said
“The security is not the solution,” one man tells me as he heads home from prayers. “Those who really want to do [something like this], they will do it with lots of security, it doesn’t matter.”
Among everyone we spoke to, there was a sense of shock at what had happened, but perhaps not necessarily surprise amid rising acts of antisemitism in the UK.
Image: David Yehudi
David Yehudi and the rabbi he studied with said it had felt like a long time coming.
“As a grandchild of a Holocaust survivor, I feel as if this is before 1935 again,” he says. “That’s the overwhelming feeling all over the world.”
Image: The rabbi asked ‘where is the United Nations?’
The rabbi adds: “The United Nations was set up with the intention of ‘never again’, and where is the United Nations? In terms of the global support against antisemitism. It’s just not there anymore. We are as unsafe as we were before the war.”
It is a shocking thing to hear, on this, the most solemn of days.
The UK’s chief rabbi has described the terror attack at a synagogue in Manchester as “the tragic result of Jew hatred”.
Two Jewish men were killed outside Heaton Park Synagogue on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar.
The attacker, named by police as Jihad al Shamie, a British citizen of Syrian descent, was shot dead by police seven minutes after officers were alerted to the incident.
Image: Britain’s chief rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis. Pic: PA
Sir Ephraim Mirvis said it was “the day we hoped we would never see, but which deep down, we knew would come”.
He celebrated the “courageous leadership” of rabbi Daniel Walker, who has been praised for his efforts to keep his congregation safe as the terrorist tried to get inside.
In a post on X, Sir Ephraim wrote: “For so long we have witnessed an unrelenting wave of Jew hatred on our streets, on campuses, on social media and elsewhere – this is the tragic result.
“This is not only an assault on the Jewish community, but an attack on the very foundations of humanity and the values of compassion, dignity and respect which we all share.”
He added: “May the victims’ memories be for a blessing and may the injured be granted a swift recovery.
“I pray that this tragedy strengthens our collective resolve to confront antisemitism, in all its guises, once and for all.”
It is a solemn day of observance and atonement, and marks the peak of the High Holidays.
It comes after Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah, with both occasions bookmarking the Ten Days of Repentance.
Jews observe Yom Kippur by prayer and fasting from sunset the day before to the sunset of the day itself.
No work is permitted, and for some, the day is spent at a synagogue.
The occasion falls on the 10th day of Tishrei – a Hebrew month between late September and early October.
The Board of Deputies of British Jews and the Jewish Leadership Council said the attack “was sadly something we feared was coming” at a time of rising antisemitism in the UK.
They said: “We are devastated at the loss of two members of our Jewish community, and our thoughts are with their families, those who are injured and receiving treatment, and all those who have been affected by this act of antisemitic terror.”
Spotify
This content is provided by Spotify, which may be using cookies and other technologies.
To show you this content, we need your permission to use cookies.
You can use the buttons below to amend your preferences to enable Spotify cookies or to allow those cookies just once.
You can change your settings at any time via the Privacy Options.
Unfortunately we have been unable to verify if you have consented to Spotify cookies.
To view this content you can use the button below to allow Spotify cookies for this session only.
Thanking the government, the King, the prime minister and senior politicians for their support, they added: “At this dark time, these acts of solidarity will be a comfort to our community.
“At a time of rising antisemitism in the UK, this attack was sadly something we feared was coming. We call on all those in positions of power and influence to take the required action to combat hatred against Jewish people.”
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
2:35
‘We’re not safe, we’re not safe’
The chief executive of the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust, Olivia Marks-Woldman, said antisemitism “has no place in our society” and “we must confront it whenever it arises”.
“We are horrified by today’s antisemitic attack in Manchester. Taking place on Yom Kippur, a moment of atonement and reflection, it is a truly horrendous event,” she said.
“Our thoughts are first and foremost with the victims and with the Jewish community in Manchester and across the UK, who will understandably feel shocked and afraid.”
The president of the Conference of European Rabbis, Pinchas Goldschmidt, called for more to be done to “stamp out murderous ideologies”.
He added: “Jews in Manchester, England, woke up this morning to pray, and were murdered in their own synagogue. Governments from the world over should spare us the statements about fighting antisemitism and instead ensure Jews are safe.”
Prince William has said “change is on my agenda” when he becomes king, in his most open and personal explanation to date about how he sees his future role and the future of the monarchy.Â
The revelations come during a discussion with Hollywood actor Eugene Levy as they were filming at Windsor Castle for Levy’s travel series The Reluctant Traveller.
When asked if the monarchy will be shifting in a slightly different direction when he becomes king, William says: “I think it’s safe to say that change is on my agenda.
“Change for good, and I embrace that and I enjoy that change. I don’t fear it, that’s the bit that excites me – the idea of being able to bring some change. Not overly radical change, but changes that I think need to happen.”
Image: Pic: Apple TV+
What could be described as William’s manifesto for the monarchy comes out in an unexpectedly candid interview with the Schitt’s Creek star.
The Prince of Wales also opens up about being “overwhelmed” by family problems last year – as both Kate and the King were diagnosed with cancer – and his desire to try to “make sure you don’t do the same mistakes as your parents”.
Describing how he is driven by both his passion to protect his family and his desire to ensure everything is in place when Prince George one day becomes king, he says: “I want to create a world in which my son is proud of what we do, in a world and a job that actually does impact people’s lives for the better.
More on Prince William
Related Topics:
“That is caveated with, I hope we don’t go back to some of the practices in the past that Harry and I grew up in. And I’ll do everything I can to make sure we don’t regress in that situation.”
Image: Pic: Apple TV+
Analysis: Interview was personal, open and significant
Over a pint of cider, with his pet dog Orla by his feet, Prince William sets out, in one sentence, his manifesto for the monarchy: “Change is on my agenda.”
The setting and the choice of platform for it, a travel series with a Hollywood actor, could not feel more unexpected, and we are told it wasn’t necessarily planned to happen this way.
A free-flowing conversation is how it was described to me. And the result was the most personal and open interview, on topics that would usually be considered off limits.
Those close to William would say it’s the most publicly vulnerable we have seen him.
On being monarch one day, he says: “It’s not something I wake up in the morning and think about.”
But in an earlier part of the programme, he does talk more about his desire to potentially shake things up, albeit with a caveat.
He says: “I think it’s very important that tradition stays, and tradition has a huge part in all of this, but there’s also points where you look at tradition and go, is that still fit for purpose today?”
In an incredibly open admission about sometimes feeling overwhelmed, especially last year – “the hardest year” – he also appears to reveal a man now more at peace with the role that lies ahead for him.
Image: Eugene Levy and Prince William. Pic: Apple TV+
Speaking in St George’s Hall inside the castle, he says: “Stuff to do with family overwhelms me, quite a bit.
“You know, worry or stress around the family side of things, that does overwhelm me quite a bit. But in terms of doing the job and things like that, I don’t feel too overwhelmed by that. Not now anyway.”
His own childhood, and how that has impacted his thoughts on the media, also come across clearly, at times appearing to echo his brother Prince Harry’s thoughts on the press and drive to protect his own family from what they went through as children.
Image: William, front, pictured with his mother, Princess Diana, and Harry in 1985. Pic: Reuters
As he talks to Levy in a pub in Windsor, William says: “Growing up, I saw that with my parents … the media were so insatiable back then.
“And if you let that creep in, the damage it can do to your family life is something that I vowed would never happen to my family.”
Those close to the prince believe the interview is the most publicly vulnerable they’ve ever seen him on camera.
The special episode of The Reluctant Traveller With Eugene Levy on Apple TV+ with William airs from today.