Dr Robin Eames retires as Church of Ireland Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland tomorrow. He will be 70 next April, and all will wish him many happy years ahead. He held the diocese of Armagh, the General Synod and the Church of Ireland together through very difficult times. Few doubt that his wisdom will continue to be sought out in coming years, and far beyond the boundaries of his church. Since his election as archbishop and primate almost 21 years ago, he has played a pivotal role in the life of this island.
His retirement comes as a great loss to the diocese of Armagh, to the Church of Ireland and the other churches on this island, and to the global Anglican Communion. The name of his successor as Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland will be announced in Dublin on January 10th next. He will be elected from among the remaining 11 members of the church's bishops, who also make up the electorate.
Archbishop Eames's retirement comes as the international Anglican Communion appears to be on the brink of deepest crisis and which he has played such a significant role in averting to date. In North America, parishes and dioceses are separating from the Episcopal Church there,with their schismatic moves encouraged by the Nigerian Primate, Archbishop Peter Akinola. The divisions are sorely testing the cohesion of global Anglicanism. In the past archbishops of Canterbury have been grateful to Archbishop Eames for his role in holding the Anglican Communion together, through the 1988/89 Eames Commission on women bishops, the later Virginia Report on the nature of Communion in Anglicanism and the 2004 Windsor report, again prepared under his chairmanship, following the consecration of gay man Gene Robinson as Bishop of New Hampshire in the US.
Whatever dilemmas now face the Anglican Communion, attention within the Church of Ireland is focusing on choosing a successor to Dr Eames. He - and it will be a man - will need to be sensitive to the different strands of theological opinion in the church and have bridge-building talents that will be wary of the dangers posed by the widening gap between the church in the North and in the Republic.
He will need to be a person of obvious personal spirituality, with a willingness to speak out prophetically about the political future of Northern Ireland and the new social, political and economic challenges facing the whole island, including multiculturalism, immigration, rising racism, priorities in public spending, and the future of healthcare and education. The bishops face an unenviable task. Their decision will have lasting implications for Anglicanism, at home and abroad, and for the future of faith on this island.