The Anglican Church in Wales has elected Cherry Vann as its new Archbishop of Wales, with Vann becoming the first woman to hold the post.
It also marks the first time that a woman in the UK has become an Anglican archbishop, while the Guardian describes Vann, currently Bishop of Monmouth, as the “first LGBTQ+ leader in the Church in Wales in a symbolic break with recent safeguarding scandals”.
Speaking of the appointment, Archbishop Mark O’Toole, of the Catholic Archdiocese of Cardiff-Menevia, said:
“I congratulate Archbishop-elect Cherry on her appointment as the new Archbishop of Wales.
“I am sure she will bring healing to all in the Church of Wales.
“I assure her of my prayers and those of the Catholic community.”
Vann, 66, was chosen on Wednesday, 30 July, after an electoral college made up of clergy and laypersons met for two days of deliberations at St Pierre Church near Chepstow, reports the Guardian.
It notes that Archbishop Andy John, the former Archbishop of Wales, announced in June that he was standing down with immediate effect after calls for his resignation gathered pace following two reports about a culture of excessive drinking, bullying and sexual misconduct at Bangor Cathedral.
The Guardian notes that while there is no suggestion that John, who became archbishop in 2021, behaved inappropriately, he issued a personal apology that was, in his words, “unreserved and unequivocal” regarding “the situation”, adding that he took full responsibility for failings under his leadership. “I repent and offer no excuses nor justifications,” he said.
Vann, who is originally from Whetstone in Leicestershire, became a bishop in the Church in Wales in 2020, following 11 years as archdeacon of Rochdale in the diocese of Manchester. In 1994, she was among the first women in the Church of England to be ordained as a priest, the Guardian notes. The archbishop-elect studied at the Royal College of Music and the Royal Schools of Music before entering an Anglican theological college in 1986.
Vann’s appointment comes as the Church of England remains stymied in a protracted process to choose a successor to Justin Welby, following his resignation last November due to his handling of a major abuse scandal in the Church of England. His successor is expected to be named in the autumn, the Guardian notes.
Welby's successor, as the Archbishop of Canterbury, will become the most senior Anglican cleric in the British Isles and the leader of the global 80 million-strong Anglican Church, of which the Church in Wales is a self-governing part.
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Photo: Archbishop-elect Cherry Vann. (Photograph credit: @cherry_vann/X.)
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