Bets Are on Irish Archbishop in ‘Stakes’

London bookmakers are offering 2-to-1 odds that Archbishop Robin Eames, the Anglican primate of Ireland, will be the next archbishop of Canterbury.

The present occupant of that office, Archbishop Robert Runcie, has announced that he will retire in January, 1991. London betting houses traditionally give odds in the “Cantebury stakes” when that office becomes open.

Eames, considered a doctrinal conservative, would be the first non-English bishop to head the worldwide Anglican communion of 70 million members in 28 national branches, including the U.S. Episcopal Church.