Leading Anglicans are lobbying against Dr John Sentamu, the favourite candidate to become the next Archbishop of Canterbury, by suggesting that he is too old.
Dr Sentamu, whom liberals regard as too conservative on gay marriage, emerged as an early favourite to replace Rowan Williams when he steps down at the end of the year. But critics have privately questioned the African-born archbishop’s suitability for the role, pointing out that, at 62, he is already a year older than Dr Williams.
One insider said: “Just as the initials ABC are used to designate the Archbishop of Canterbury, the initials ABY have been used for York. But now, for those against him, they are being used to mean ‘Anyone But York’.”
Some African church leaders have condemned Dr Williams’s tenure, calling for his replacement to be chosen with Africa’s 37 million Anglicans in mind. The Archbishop of Nigeria, the Most Rev Nicholas Okoh, compared Dr Williams yesterday with Pontius Pilate, the man who washed his hands of Jesus, saying that the Archbishop had presided over the transformation of the Church from a “happy family” to “a Communion in tatters”.
Dr Sentamu, a lawyer and former judge, would be welcomed by the conservative evangelical provinces such as Nigeria. As well as having proven himself fearless in taking on corrupt political leadership in Uganda, where he was born, he is against gay marriage.
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He supported a proposal for male bishops to work alongside women bishops to appease traditionalists — to the dismay of women clergy and their supporters — and he backed the illfated unity document, the Anglican Covenant, which seeks to impose doctrinal discipline on provinces that loosen the line against gays by, for example, ordaining gay bishops.
However, Canon Giles Goddard, chairman of Inclusive Church, said: “I’m not aware of a ‘stop Sentamu’ campaign. I think we need a younger, open evangelical. We want someone who has trust of evangelicals and can work across boundaries, such as the Bishop of Bradford Nick Baines.”
The Anglican Church in Nigeria, with 18 million members, is the second-largest province in the world. It has been the leader of many conservative African branches at odds with Dr Williams’s attempts to reconcile those at opposite ends of the gay-marriage debate.
Some bishops are more positive about the Archbishop’s legacy. Bishop Chad Gandiya is the head of the persecuted Anglican Church in Zimbabwe, which Dr Williams visited in October. He told The Times: “We will certainly miss him. We appreciate very much what he did.”
Other candidates for the role are the Bishop of Coventry, the Rt Rev Christopher Cocksworth; the Bishop of Bradford, the Rt Rev Nick Baines; the Bishop of Chelmsford, the Rt Rev Stephen Cottrell; and the Bishop of Norwich, the Rt Rev Graham James. The process begins in May with the new Archbishop named after the summer.