If his appointment is confirmed, he will also bring experience of personal tragedy and of civil conflict in Africa to his new role leading 80 million Christians in more than 160 countries.
The Bishop of Durham’s rise to being on the verge of becoming the 105th Archbishop of Canterbury has been remarkably swift. He has been a bishop for little over a year and the 56-year-old became a priest only in his mid-30s.
The father-of-five emerged as a late favourite for the Church of England’s most senior post after enjoying positive media coverage, having started the contest as an outsider.