Air over the CNC meeting remains smokeless
Posted: 05 Oct 2012 @ 01:02
NO further information is being released about the deliberations
of the Crown Nominations Commission (CNC) after it failed to agree
two names to submit to the Prime Minister at its meeting last
week.
The dates of the Commission's three
earlier meetings were released by the C of E's communications
department. On Wednesday, however, it was giving no details of when
the Commission might be meeting again.
All meetings of the CNC are
confidential. The news that its 16 voting members had been unable
to agree could be inferred from a phrase in a short press statement
issued last Friday evening: "the work of the Commission
continues."
The full statement read: "This week's
meeting of the Crown Nominations Commission (CNC) has been
accompanied by much speculation about possible candidates and the
likely timing of an announcement of the name of who will succeed Dr
Rowan Williams as Archbishop of Canterbury when he steps down to
become Master of Magdalene College.
"The CNC is an elected, prayerful
body. Its meetings are necessarily confidential to enable members
to fulfil their important responsibilities for discerning who
should undertake this major national and international role.
Previous official briefings have indicated that an announcement is
expected during the autumn and that remains the case; the work of
the Commission continues.
"There will be no comment on any
speculation about candidates or about the CNC's deliberations. Dr
Williams remains in office until the end of December."
The rules for the CNC state that a
successful candidate must secure a majority of two-thirds when the
CNC votes, i.e. at least 11 votes. The CNC selects two candidates
in this way, and chooses in which order to present them to the
Prime Minister for the Queen's approval. The convention is now that
the Prime Minister automatically chooses the first name.