Archbishop of Canterbury Announces Early Retirement
Episcopal News Service. March 29, 1990 [90080]
Archbishop of Canterbury Robert Runcie has announced that he will resign his post as Primate of the Church of England and spiritual leader of the world's 70 million Anglicans early next year.
Runcie made his announcement from Lambeth Palace on Sunday, March 25, the 10th anniversary of his enthronement as 102nd archbishop since St. Augustine in 601. His announcement came as a surprise to some observers because he will be giving up his post eight months before his 70th birthday -- the age at which the church rules require retirement.
"I am resigning now because it is 10 years and I think it is time to leave and hand over to somebody else," Runcie said. "That takes a bit of time in the Church of England, so I judged that the beginning of next year is the best time to go."
Runcie's announcement has already touched off speculation about who might be his successor. The new archbishop, like Runcie, will take up the delicate task of holding together a communion being tested by its diversity.
Runcie is credited with leading Anglicans through one of their most turbulent decades, marked by debates over ordination of women to the priesthood and episcopate, sexual ethics, and continuing theological issues that threaten to divide the communion. Within his own church, the next archbishop will likely have to arbitrate between supporters and detractors of women's ordination because the General Synod of the Church of England is scheduled to vote on the issue again within the next four years.
The next archbishop will also join the fray over the strategies to achieve unity with non-Anglican Christians. Runcie drew fire from some within the church over his support for a symbolic recognition of the pope by Anglicans.
The process to choose a new archbishop includes the prime minister, church leaders, and the queen. The Crown Appointments Commission, set up by the General Synod of the Church of England, will consult the 27 autonomous provinces of the Anglican Communion, then submit two names to the prime minister.
The prime minister is expected to choose the commission's first choice -- but may choose either, or suggest one of her own. Queen Elizabeth II, the titular head of the Church of England, makes the formal appointment. The entire process is expected to take at least six months.
Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher is likely to support a more conservative candidate to replace Runcie, according to many observers. Relations between Thatcher's governing Conservative party and the archbishop have been strained throughout his term, which roughly coincides with Thatcher's.
Runcie initially angered the prime minister during the Falkland War with Argentina when he preached a sermon calling for forgiveness, rather than exulting in triumph. Thatcher considered his position unpatriotic. Runcie's support of coal miners in 1984, and a 1985 critique of the Conservative government, "Faith in the City," chastising both church and state over neglect of the poor, only worsened the rift.
Thatcher's influence on worldwide Anglicanism will be far-reaching despite the fact that she is a Methodist. In choosing an archbishop to head the Church of England, she will make a choice that will have vast symbolic importance for Anglicans around the world.