I have an idea: hold a Canterbury Conclave

have an idea: hold a Canterbury Conclave

It takes less time for the Catholic Church to elect a pope than the Church of England to name an Archbishop of Canterbury 

By Mary Ann Mueller 

VOL Special Correspondent 

www.virtueonline.org 

June 12, 2025 

Justin Welby formally laid down his crozier on Epiphany (January 6) and now Pentecost has come and gone and the Canterbury Chair is still empty – Sede Vacante.

A lot has happened in those six months: Pope Francis died Easter Monday (April 21); his state funeral was April 26; after nine days of official mourning a conclave was convened on May 7 and a little over 24 hours later a successor was elected — a dark horse, a baseball loving American from Chicago taking the papal name of Leo XIV.

The new pope was elected on May 8. So technically the See of Peter had been Sede Vacante from April 21 until May 8; all of 17 days. 

Turning to the Church of England’s archiepiscopal search … Justin Welby, the 105th Archbishop of Canterbury, announced his early retirement on November 20, 2024 but didn't lay down his crozier until his 69th birthday (January 6, 2025). So the See of Canterbury has been Sede Vacante for more than 150 days and counting.

What the Church of England needs to do is hold a Canterbury Conclave and shelve its complicated bureaucratic approach to determining who the next Archbishop of Canterbury should be. The English Church is getting mired in relativism, wokeism and politics.  

The cumbersome process is led by the Crown Nominations Commission (CNC), whose role it is to discern whom God may be calling to this vital ministry. 

When Pope Leo was enthroned on May 18 there is no Archbishop of Canterbury to lead the Anglican delegation. That task fell to Presiding Bishop Sean Rowe of the Episcopal Church.

Stephen Knott, the Archbishop’ Secretary for Appointments; and Jonathan Hellewell, the Prime Minister’s Appointment Secretary jointly reported recently to the General Synod that “more than 11,000 people took part in the consultation process” to determine the mission of the Church of England and of the wider Anglican Communion.

If you ask 11,000 people their views on who the next Archbishop of Canterbury should be, you'd likely get 10,998 different answers depending on who was questioned.

What percentage of women were represented? What percentage of persons of color? What was the ratio between deacons, priests and bishops? Between the laity and the clerical state? Were the views of Religious – monks, nuns, and hermits included? 

May’s Catholic conclave brought together 133 voting cardinals, all younger than 80, gathered from 70 nations speaking 23 different languages. Yet in a little more than 24 hours after the Sistine Chapel’s massive doors were locked one of those cardinals walked out of that conclave as the pope-elect – Robert Francis Prevost from Chicago, Illinois.

The Church of England’s cumbersome nomination process, led by the Crown Nominations Commission, is supposedly designed to discern whom God may be calling to fill St. Augustine’s Chair.  

But what if the Archbishop of Canterbury was determined by a conclave? It would be an interesting collection of electors in the first and maybe only “Canterbury Conclave.” I would suggest all sitting Anglican primates – currently there are several Anglican provinces which are Sede Vacante. Add the 17 voting members of the Crown Nominations Commission to the mix and also have the King, the Prime Minister and the Canterbury Cathedral’s College of Canons send in representatives to act for them. In all that would be about 60 active participants.

The Canterbury Conclave could be held at Kent University, since it has hosted the Lambeth Conference in the past and has the accommodations to meet the various needs of the conclave – meetings rooms, lodging, dining and worship.

The Canterbury Conclave would be in lockdown: no spouses would be allowed – no husbands, no wives, no live-in partners regardless of sexual orientation. They would also be stripped of all their electronic devices – cell phones, smart phones, iPads, laptops, smart watches, ect. A total digital blackout. They would be cut off from the world to focus on discerning who the Holy Spirit is guiding their conclave to elect as the new Archbishop of Canterbury. The participants in the conclave would be alone with each other, alone with their thoughts, alone with their prayers, alone with God.

Since Kent University does not have a set-up which allows for the burning of ballots to signal to the world of a successful Canterbury Conclave election, and in keeping with royal tradition, when one of the participating Anglican primates is elected as the new Archbishop of Canterbury – and King Charles III gives his imprimatur – a town cryer would first dispatch to announce the news for all to hear, then the formal Statement of Election would be posted on the door of Canterbury Cathedral for all to see.

The Global South has long advocated that the Archbishop of Canterbury, in his role as an Instrument of Communion, needs to come from an Anglican province outside of England. Anglicanism is a global religious family of 85 million faithful in more than 165 countries. Anglicans are not just in England.

Before Robert Prevost was elected the new pope it was considered improbable that an American cardinal would be elected to fill St. Peter's chair. But it happened.

Will wonders never cease. It could then be possible for an African, or an Asian, or a South American to become the new Archbishop of Canterbury since the heart, soul and passion of Anglicanism has moved to the Global South including Africa, Asia, Australia and South America.

A GAFCON-associated Archbishop of Canterbury would be much more representative of solid traditional historic Biblical Anglicanism.

Also split the role of the Archbishop of Canterbury.

Pope Leo XIV is simultaneously the Bishop of Rome and the Supreme Pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church. These are two separate functions. Leo was enthroned as the Pope on May 18, but installed as the Bishop of the Diocese of Rome on May 26. 

The Archbishop of Canterbury is seen by the Anglican Communion as a focus of unity. In Anglicanism he is one of the four Instruments of Communion along with the Lambeth Conference, the Anglican Consultative Council, and the Primates' Meeting.

The Archbishop of Canterbury is the Primate of All England as well as the diocesan Bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. It's time to split the two roles.  

Elect an “Archbishop of Canterbury” who is the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, and a “Metropolitan of Canterbury” who is the spiritual leader of the Church of England. Since these are two separate roles, elect two different people with the Archbishop of Canterbury being elected by the entire Anglican Communion through a “Canterbury Conclave” and the Metropolitan of Canterbury being appointed by the reigning monarch, on the advice of the Crown Nominations Commission, as all other English bishops are. 

The Archbishop of Canterbury and the Metropolitan of Canterbury would be independent of each other. Each would have their own unique ministry and responsibilities in both the ecclesial and civil realms. 

Currently the Anglican Communion is fractured. Anglican primates refuse to break bread – either at a refectory table or around the altar – with other primates due to deep theological differences and societal norms.

The Archbishop of Canterbury should be a unifying force within the entire Anglican Communion while encouraging the wider Anglican church to follow Jesus more closely and stem the tide of secularism which is infecting the Communion. 

The Church of England has drifted far from the Anglican expression of the Apostolic faith and practice which has anchored the English Church for centuries.

The Metropolitan of Canterbury could either lead the Church of England back to biblical orthodoxy and spiritual solvency or continue to push it towards greater irrelevancy and further away from Christ. 

As retired Egyptian Archbishop Mouneer Anis explains in a recent First Things article: “The next Archbishop of Canterbury must be more than a national figurehead or a political mediator; he must be a shepherd who is unwavering in the Faith once delivered to the Saints. This includes upholding the Authority of Scripture, the Creeds, the Thirty-Nine Articles, and the Book of Common Prayer.”

Mary Ann Mueller is a journalist living in Texas. She is a regular contributor to VirtueOnline.