Rowan Williams To Step Down as the Archbishop of Canterbury
by Trent Gilliss, senior editor
Twitter is trending, dominated by the news of Rowan Williams’ retirement. At the end of December this year, Williams will exit his post as the Archbishop of Canterbury and become the 35th Master of Magdalene College at the University of Cambridge.
Archbishop Williams’ successor will take on some challenging issues as the Church of England and the wider Anglican Communion of 77 million faces internal struggles and debates about the ordination of gay clergy and shrinking attendance. But the Church needs to choose the 105th Archbishop of Canterbury first. How is a successor chosen and who chooses?
“The responsibility for choosing the next Archbishop of Canterbury rests with the Crown Nominations Commission (CNC). Its task is to submit the name of a preferred candidate (and a second appointable candidate) to the Prime Minster who is constitutionally responsible for tendering advice on the appointment to the Queen.
Once the Queen has approved the chosen candidate and he has indicated a willingness to serve, 10 Downing St will announce the name of the Archbishop-designate.
The College of Canons of Canterbury Cathedral formally elect the new Archbishop of Canterbury.
The election is confirmed by a commission of diocesan bishops in a legal ceremony (the Confirmation of Election), which confers the office of Archbishop on him.
The new Archbishop is formally enthroned in Canterbury Cathedral.”
Eager as I am to break a good story, I’d have wrestled long and hard about being first to publish this information. Isn’t it a private matter in the life of a man who is no longer a public official?
—Conor Friedersdorf
The associate editor at The Atlantic deliberates on the Los Angeles Times decision to be the first to publish the story about Arnold Schwarzenegger fathering a child with a household staffer ten years ago.
Is it a private matter? Would you have published the story?
About the image: Arnold Schwarzenegger speaks at a lighting ceremony at the California capitol building in 2008. (photo: Lon R. Fong/Flickr, cc by-nc-nd 2.0)
by Trent Gilliss, senior editor
"Fort Hood Has Enough Victims Already"
Trent Gilliss, online editor
Wajahat Ali, one of the voices in our “Revealing Ramadan” and “Living Islam” shows, has written an op-ed for the Guardian’s “Comment is free” section regarding the Fort Hood shootings. A stream of responses — presently at 217 — to his essay are piling up.
As the news media cover and pundits weigh in on the tragedy, we offer one more perspective to think about as you form your ideas and talk about it with your friends and colleagues.
