Editor’s note: This piece was originally published on 4 September 2024. It was republished on 12 November 2024, following the resignation of Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, over his handling of a clerical abuse scandal.
There is an ancient tradition in the Anglican Church of nolo episcopari, which roughly translates from the Latin as: “I do not want to be a bishop.” It is an unwritten, and largely unspoken, rule of appointment to high office in the Church of England: if you want to be archbishop of Canterbury, you cannot be seen to want it. Those who least wish to serve, the logic goes, are best suited to the task.
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