The door of St Davids Cathedral will be locked on September 1 as a new bishop of the Church in Wales is elected.

Inside, a “college” of 47 people, including the five other Welsh diocesan bishops, will nominate and vote on candidates, for up to three days.

Once a decision is made, the Archbishop of Wales, Dr Barry Morgan, will unlock and open the west door of the Cathedral and announce the name of the Bishop-Elect from the doorstep.

The election follows the resignation of the Rt Rev Carl Cooper in May, who served as bishop of the diocese from 2002. The new bishop will be the 128th Bishop of St Davids, an area covering the traditional counties of Pembrokeshire, Carmarthenshire and Ceredigion.

The Electoral College is made up of representatives from all six Welsh dioceses.  The “home” diocese is represented by six lay people and six clergy, and the other five dioceses by three lay people and three clergy each, plus the five remaining Bishops.
 
Its discussions are confidential.  Candidates for election are nominated at the meeting, discussed and voted on by ballot.  Any candidate receiving two-thirds of the votes of those present is declared Bishop-Elect.  Otherwise, the College returns to the nomination stage and the cycle starts afresh.  Traditionally, the Bishop of St Davids is a Welsh-speaker.

The College may meet for up to three consecutive days in order to reach a decision; if it is unable to do so within this deadline the decision passes to the Bench of Bishops.
Once a bishop is elected, he will have up to 28 days to accept the position.

The meeting on September 1 will begin with a celebration of the Holy Eucharist at the cathedral to which anyone is welcome.  The Electoral College will meet in private and the Cathedral will be locked.  

There will be an opportunity to take photographs or film members of the Electoral College entering the cathedral and the door being locked, at the end of Holy Eucharist.

Once the new bishop is elected, a press conference will be held for interviews.

For more information contact:
Anna Morrell
Archbishop's Media Officer / Swyddog y Cyfryngau i'r Archesgob
Tel: 02920 348208; mobile: 07 939393 717
39 Cathedral Rd, Cardiff / 39 Heol y Gadeirlan, Caerdydd
CF11 9XF
http://www.churchinwales.org.uk