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John Sentamu, the charismatic Archbishop of York – the only black bishop in the mother church of the Anglican Communion, is the bookies favourite to replace Rowan Williams.
However his former aid, Arun Arora, claims that a whispering campaign fuelled by “naked racism” will damage his chances of election.
Sentamu’s upbringing in Uganda, where he was jailed and beaten during Amin’s regime, may help improve ties with various churches in Africa unhappy with the more liberal stance adopted by some Western provinces.
African evangelicals are keen to see their influence grow within the Communion and they are unlikely to take kindly to Sentamu being overlooked amid claims of racism.
A former lawyer and judge who fled Uganda in 1974, Sentamu refuses to talk about any racism claims, only putting out a statement in which he says he has not experienced it within the Church – only outside.
He has had his vicarage firebombed, has had dog excrement put through his letterbox and was described by a mourner at one funeral as a monkey. As a bishop in a poor part of London, he was frequently stopped and quizzed by police.
Some feel Sentamu is just too loud, ambitious and outspoken for a Church that has tried to muddle through and keep unity through slow moving diplomacy.
For others, Sentamu is one of the Church’s most recognisable men, a senior cleric whose broad smile, passionate oratory, and dramatic gestures could liven up the Church after the “scholarly dustiness” of Williams.
“Anglicans are often accused of being very tame and pale, and to have someone like John Sentamu leading the Church, I think, would reinvigorate a lot of Anglicans,” said Christina Rees, a long-term campaigner for women’s issues.
Full Story Reuters UK
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