A self-confessed ‘Newcastle United nut’ has entered the running to become the next Archbishop of Canterbury, according to reports.
The Right Rev Pete Wilcox, the Bishop of Sheffield and an ardent Magpies supporter, recently became a notable candidate for the role.
It has taken almost 11 months to elect a new Archbishop of Canterbury after Justin Welby stepped down last year over the church’s handling of a sex abuse scandal.
However, an announcement naming his successor is due to be made on Friday.
Wilcox, whose name had not featured on bookmakers’ lists up until now, recently came up among well-placed sources, The Times has reported.
Welby’s resignation followed an independent review which concluded Christian camp leader John Smyth – thought to have been the most prolific serial abuser to be associated with the Church – might have been brought to justice had the Archbishop reported him to police in 2013.
While in his initial resignation statement on November 12 last year, Welby said he was stepping down ‘in sorrow with all victims and survivors of abuse’, he had to issue an apology later that month following his final speech in the House of Lords.
On that occasion he was accused of making light of serious safeguarding failures in the Church, with an abuse survivor branding the speech – which referenced a 14th century beheading and prompted laughter from some peers – ‘tone deaf’.
The Bishop of Sheffield, the Right Rev Pete Wilcox, who is a huge fan of the Magpies, emerged as a late contender to be the next Archbishop of Canterbury
Justin Welby resigned following a report that senior Church of England figures covered up allegations of sexual abuse
The next Archbishop of Canterbury will be the 106th person to hold the role which dates back to the sixth century.
The Bishop of Chelmsford, the Right Rev Guli Francis-Dehqani, has been tipped as one of the favourites.
She was born in Iran but her family fled in the wake of the Iranian revolution in 1980, when she was just a teenager.
Her brother Bahram was murdered in the uprising, and she previously spoke about how it affected her family.
She told BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs: ‘We’ve spent a lifetime coming to terms with it. In a sense, it was his sacrifice that brought us here.
‘I don’t think my mum and my sister and I would have left if we hadn’t had a very good reason to.
‘So he gave us the gift of a chance of a new life in this country.’
She has been Bishop of Chelmsford since April 2021 and is the lead bishop for housing for the Church of England.
Dame Sarah Mullally sits in the House of Lords and was sworn in as a member of the Privy Council in March 2018
Other contenders in the running include Dame Sarah Mullally, the Bishop of London.
The former nurse was the youngest person to be appointed chief nursing officer for England in 1999.
She sits in the House of Lords and was sworn in as a member of the Privy Council in March 2018.
She was made a Dame Commander of the British Empire in 2005 for her contribution to nursing and midwifery.
Michael Beasley, the Bishop of Bath and Wells, is also among the favourites.
The former epidemiologist was a member of the Church of England’s Covid task force during the pandemic.
He was also part of efforts by Unicef and the NHS to launch Cakhia TV – Xem Trực Tiếp Bóng Đá, Link Trực Tuyến hôm nay which raised more than £10 million in support of vaccination for low-income countries.
He is married and became the 80th Bishop of Bath and Wells in 2022.
