LONDON, Nov. 8 (UPI) -- The bishop of Durham, the Right Rev. Justin Welby, is to become the next archbishop of Canterbury, The Daily Telegraph reported Wednesday.
The newspaper said sources inside the Church of England confirmed the selection and said the announcement could be made Friday. Welby would succeed Archbishop Rowan Williams as head of the church and of the worldwide Anglican Communion.
Welby, 56, is an unusual choice. He spent 11 years as an oil company executive before deciding to become a priest and has only been a bishop for a year.
While Welby has an upper-class background and education at Eton and Cambridge, he worked in Africa for French company Elf Acquitaine, experience he later used to work on conflict resolution in the Niger Delta, the Telegraph said. He has also worked in inner-city parishes and spent four years as dean of Liverpool Cathedral.
Williams was scheduled to return to London Thursday after attending an Anglican meeting in New Zealand. At a news conference in Auckland, he quoted Swiss theologian Karl Barth, urging his successor to preach "with a Bible in one hand and a newspaper in the other."
