New Archbishop of Canterbury Supports Women in Priesthood

Bishop George Carey, who favors ordaining women into the priesthood, was named Wednesday as the 103rd Archbishop of Canterbury and head of the 70-million-strong Anglican church.

Officials at Lambeth Palace, the traditional residence of the leader of the Church of England, said Carey will assume the post next spring, succeeding the retiring Robert A. K. Runcie.

Carey, 54, has been bishop of Bath and Wells for only three years and was considered an outsider for the job because of his relative inexperience.

A 16-person commission of lay and clergy members recommended Carey and an alternative candidate to Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, who endorsed Carey and passed on his name to Queen Elizabeth II for formal nomination.

As archbishop, Carey will be appointed to the Privy Council, which advises the queen, and become a member of the House of Lords. His flock includes 2.5 million American Episcopalians.

Carey was born in East London.

“I would want there to be a rich and creative dialogue between the church and state,” he said. “This is not to say that the church takes up this issue of party politics. Far from it. It is to say that social and political issues are there at the very heart of the Christian good news.”

The author of eight books on subjects ranging from the existence of God to Anglican relations with the Roman Catholic Church, Carey said he does not want to be “an other-worldly archbishop” but “a pastoral archbishop in touch with the world.”

He told reporters he supports the ordination of women into the priesthood, an issue that has divided the church.