Former oil company executive Justin Welby has accepted the post of Archbishop of Canterbury, the spiritual leader of the world’s Anglicans, the Daily Telegraph reported on Wednesday.
Welby, the Bishop of Durham, will take over from current incumbent Rowan Williams when he retires next month, revealed the paper.
The appointment of the 56-year-old, who was educated at the exclusive Eton College, could come as early as Friday after the Crown Nominations Commission put his name forward to Prime Minister David Cameron, according to the online report.
Sources close to the selection process told the paper that Welby had emerged as “the outstanding candidate” despite being a bishop for only a year.
The Church refused to confirm Welby’s appointment, but speculation mounted after he pulled out of a scheduled appearance on BBC Radio 4.
The incoming cleric faces a huge task in healing deep schisms among tens of millions of Anglicans worldwide over female and gay bishops.
The decision must be signed off by Cameron and officially approved by Queen Elizabeth II, who is the Supreme Governor of the Church of England as well as the British head of state.
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.
Other contenders for the post included veteran churchmen such as Archbishop of York John Sentamu, 63, Bishop of London Richard Chartres, 65, and Bishop of Norwich Graham James, 61.
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.
Welby to become new Anglican leader: report
