Who will replace Welby as Archbishop of Canterbury?

Justin Welby has resigned as Archbishop of Canterbury over his failure to deal with the matter of serial sex abuser John Smyth.

- DAVID MADDOX

But as the search begins for his replacement, the choice has relevance well beyond the 984,000 practising members of the Church of England, or even the 85 million who belong to the worldwide Anglican community.

Constitutional Position

The Archbishop of Canterbury is not the Anglican equivalent of the Pope in the Catholic Church, because the monarch is the official head of the Church of England. But that does not mean the position does not hold considerable power.

In effect, the holder is the most senior cleric, not just in the state Church but also within the worldwide Anglican Communion. Most importantly, though, he sits as of right in the House of Lords as one of 26 bishops known as the lords spiritual. This gives him a powerful platform from which to influence British politics and public life, well beyond religious matters.

Future of Bishops in Parliament

This appointment comes at a very uncertain time for the Church of England, which is currently beset by scandal surrounding the John Smyth case and a crisis in safeguarding. On top of this, the rapidly dwindling size of its church congregations has given rise to serious questions about its relevance.

But the biggest question is whether the Church should maintain the medieval right to send its bishops to the House of Lords.

The decision by Labour to get rid of the last hereditary peers leaves an obvious question about the status of the lords spiritual. While Labour resisted ejecting them this time round, it is interesting that the push to end the tradition came from the Tories, the party that at one time could be relied on to support their continued place in parliament.

As former Tory defence secretary Gavin Williamson, who pushed for them to be removed, recently noted, Iran is the only other state to give clerics an automatic role in the legislature.