LONDON - A commission appointed to help choose the next archbishop of Canterbury has selected the Archbishop of Wales Rowan Williams as its first pick, and Prime Minister Tony Blair is expected to accept that decision in a few weeks, The London Times reported Thursday.
The current archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Rev. George Carey, 66, plans to retire at the end of October. In that position he heads the Church of England and helps maintain the unity of the independent churches in 160 countries that form the worldwide Anglican Communion.
The 13-member commission was appointed several months ago to narrow the field of candidates for the 104th archbishop of Canterbury to two for Blair's final choice. The prime minister will select one candidate or ask the commission for more recommendations, if he does not care for its final two. Queen Elizabeth II must ratify the prime minister's choice.
In its front-page story, the Times said Williams was picked by the commission as its first choice after a meeting in Woking, Surrey, last week.
The paper described Williams as a supporter of the ordination of women and homosexuals, and said he is regarded as someone with the charisma needed to lead the Church of England into the 21st century.
Williams, 52, a father of two children who comes from a Welsh-speaking family, is revered in Wales where the Anglican Church of Wales has received widespread attention under his leadership, The Times said.
Williams, a former Oxford University divinity professor, would be the first archbishop appointed from outside the Church of England since the Reformation, the newspaper said.
It did not identify the committee's No. 2 choice, but said the other names it considered included the Pakistan-born bishop of Rochester, Michael Nazir-Ali; the bishop of Liverpool, the Right Rev. James Jones; and the bishop of London, the Right Rev. Richard Chartres.