Head of Anglicans to step down amid rifts

Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, the spiritual leader of the world's Anglicans, said on Friday he will resign at the end of the year after a decade of turmoil over female and gay bishops. The bushy-bearded 61-year-old announced that he would return to his academic roots by taking up a position as master of Cambridge University's Magdalene College in January 2013.
He did not give a reason for standing down but his tenure was marked by a struggle to avoid a schism over the consecration of women bishops in Britain, and of openly gay bishops in the United States. "It has been an immense privilege to serve as Archbishop of Canterbury over the past decade, and moving on has not been an easy decision," Williams said in a statement released by his office Lambeth Palace. Anglicans could now get their first black leader, with Ugandan-born John Sentamu, the Archbishop of York, widely viewed as front-runner to replace Williams.