Justin Welby appointed archbishop of Canterbury to lead world's divided Anglicans

November 09, 2012
FOX News

How will Justin Welby lead the world's Anglicans and heal their deep divisions? Even he is not sure yet.

Welby generated high hopes but few clear expectations Friday as British Prime Minister David Cameron announced the 56-year-old former oil executive was being promoted to archbishop of Canterbury after only a year's experience as a bishop.

"We don't know much about him and there are very few expectations because he has been a bishop for such a short time," said Paul Handley, managing editor of the Church Times newspaper.
But, he said, initial signs were "very encouraging and impressive." 
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Announcement of the 105th Archbishop of Canterbury
The Queen has approved the nomination of the Right Reverend Justin Welby for election as the 105th Archbishop of Canterbury.

He will succeed Dr Rowan Williams who is retiring at the end of December after ten years as Archbishop...

BBC: Next archbishop Justin Welby 'humble but firm'
The Rt Rev Justin Welby's appearance before the nation's media began with what you might expect from the next leader of the Church of England - a prayer - and was then followed by something you might not expect - a joke.

"Well this is the best kept secret since the last cabinet reshuffle" he told the assembled journalists in one of the grand meeting rooms of his future London home, Lambeth Palace...

NYT: Anglican Church’s New Leader Vows to Seek Reconciliation
...His admirers say he is a conciliator who will be able to hold the communion together. “He and I in fact differ on the question of the blessing of same-sex unions,” said Bishop Shannon Johnston of the Diocese of Virginia, “but that has enriched and deepened our relationship and our engagement with one another.

“He has a special gift for both personal and ecclesial diplomacy,” said Bishop Johnston, who says he knows the archbishop because Virginia and Liverpool are “companion dioceses.”...

TIME: As The Next Archbishop of Canterbury, Can Justin Welby Save The Anglican Communion?
...It will now be up to Welby to manage the Church’s conflicts, the most severe of which have sometimes threatened to cause schisms. Many in the Church fear that a move too far to the right or too far to the left by one faction of Anglicans could lead to another faction breaking away entirely. Conservative Anglican groups such as the Convention of Anglicans in North America (CANA) are adamantly opposed to views they feel are contrary to the teachings of the gospels—particularly gay marriage and ordaining women as bishops. Julian Dobbs, a Bishop of CANA, says that such conflicts over theology are “causing huge divisions in the Anglican Communion.” He adds that to prevent irreparable divides, Welby “will need to work hard to establish those historic faith principles that the communion was founded.”...

Christian Science Monitor: Can a former oil executive hold together the Anglican Church?
The outgoing head of the Church of England once said that he hoped his successor would have "the constitution of an ox and the skin of a rhinoceros."

Justin Welby may well be considering those words today, after being appointed the new Archbishop of Canterbury, the head of the Church of England and symbolic leader of the world's estimated 85 million Anglicans...

Anglican Ink: Gay church leaders urge new archbishop to adopt a "helpful" attitude
Statement from the Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement on the appointment of the new Archbishop of Canterbury