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The Bishop of Durham Justin Welby , pictured in June/AFP

Kenya

Former oil exec Welby named new Anglican leader

The incoming cleric faces a huge task in healing deep schisms among around 80 million Anglicans worldwide over the appointment of female and gay bishops, especially among evangelical parts of the church in Africa.

British newspapers said father-of-five Welby – a sixth child, his daughter Johanna, died in a car crash in 1983 – was an opponent of same sex marriage and the appointment of openly gay bishops.

But he was widely viewed as less conservative than his main rival for the post, Archbishop of York John Sentamu, 63.

Balding, bespectacled Welby’s management skills and financial background were also seen as advantages, according to the reports.

Welby worked in the oil industry for 11 years before leaving to train for the Anglican priesthood and was first ordained as a deacon in 1992. “I was unable to get away from a sense of God calling,” he said in an interview.

He worked for Elf Aquitaine in Paris and then for Enterprise Oil, which was later bought out by Royal Dutch Shell.

He went on to become Dean of Liverpool in 2007 before being named Bishop of Durham in 2011.

Other contenders for the post included veteran churchmen such as Bishop of London Richard Chartres, 65, and Bishop of Norwich Graham James, 61.

The selection commission has 16 voting members including both senior clerics and lay members and is chaired by a former British arts minister, Richard Luce.

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Williams, now 61, was appointed the 104th Archbishop of Canterbury in 2002, replacing George Carey.

He announced in March that he would take up a position as master of Magdalene College at Britain’s prestigious Cambridge University in January 2013.

His tenure was marked by his difficulties in maintaining unity amid disagreements over the consecration of female bishops in Britain, and of openly gay bishops in the United States.

The rows have threatened to cause a permanent rift with conservative Anglican bishops in Africa in particular.

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