The archbishop of York, John Sentamu (left), and bishop of London, Richard Chartres, are strong contenders to become the archbishop of Canterbury. Photograph: Graeme Robertson/PA

Archbishop of Canterbury's resignation sparks speculation over successor

As Rowan Williams announces move to Cambridge University, aWorn out by 10 years of trying to hold together a church, and a worldwide federation of churches which did not much want to be held together, the archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, has announced his resignation.

"The worst aspects of the job, I think, have been the sense that there are some conflicts that won't go away, however long you struggle with them, and that not everybody in the Anglican communion or even in the Church of England is eager to avoid schism or separation," Williams said in an interview released to mark his announcement.

Although he could have continued for another eight years, he is returning to academia, as master of Magdalene College, Cambridge, in January 2013. His time in office has been marked by a slowly growing schism in the Anglican church which he has failed to heal.

Throughout his term he has been attacked by conservatives for his liberal views on homosexuality and by liberals for failing to live up to his principles. But he has been respected on all sides for his gifts as a preacher of great eloquence and flashes of clarity.

The retired archbishop Desmond Tutu said Williams had been "the best gift God could have given to the Anglican communion. His intellect, his spirituality and prayerfulness have held a fractious communion together. With anyone else less gifted we would have torn ourselves apart."

The Labour leader, Ed Miliband, tweeted: "Rowan Williams will be sorely missed as Archbishop of Canterbury; did what he said he'd do – challenge the imagination of our country."

Williams' generally leftwing politics have led him to clash with the government, most notably when he guest-edited an issue of the New Statesman last year, which was taken by Conservative MPs as a declaration of hostilities.

The bookies' favourite to succeed him is the Ugandan-born archbishop of York, John Sentamu, who said he had received the news of Williams' resignation "with great sadness".

The other name frequently mentioned is the bishop of London, Richard Chartres, who is opposed to the ordination of women but has become increasingly quiet. Both men are older than 61-year-old Williams.

None of the younger candidates have made their mark on the world outside the church yet, though Graham James, the bishop of Norwich, and Nick Baines, the bishop of Bradford, are the two names most often mentioned.

The timing of Williams' resignation is said to have nothing to do with the current debate over government proposals to allow gay marriage. But his children have both now left school, and he will have served throughout the Queen's diamond jubilee. By leaving now he makes time for his successor to prepare for the next Lambeth conference, a worldwide gathering of Anglican bishops due in 2018. The last one was marked by a schism after the American Anglican church ordained an openly gay bishop, Gene Robinson.

Williams planned to heal this schism by getting all constituent churches of the Anglican communion to sign up to a treaty or covenant which would stop them from ordaining openly gay clergy without central consent. But for the covenant to mean anything, it would have to be approved by a majority of the diocese of the Church of England. So far 17 have rejected it, and 11 approved. It seems likely that five more will reject it in voting ths weekend, which would kill the scheme entirely.

It also looks likely that when the church's governing body, the General Synod, meets this summer to make a final decision in favour of women bishops, it will once more reject the archbishop's laboriously assembled compromise which is meant to reassure opponents that they won't be squeezed out of the church.

The bishop of Buckingham, Alan Wilson, summed up the feelings of many of the church's liberals when he said: "Given the insane pace and intensity of the job he has been doing, many will feel his next move is a shrewd and well deserved re-entry to a place where he can really develop his theology free of the institutional constraints that come with his present day job".

Wilson defended Williams against the charge that he was too abstruse and academic to understand.

"I have often encountered people who pretended they couldn't understand what he was saying when what they meant was that they could understand what he was saying and they didn't like it.

"Similarly his style of leadership has been instinctively non-controlling and inspirational, not always understood for what it is, but much respected for its spiritual depth. As the nation's holy man, he has articulated questions that matter, touched national life at key occasions, and inspired his colleagues at every turn. He has inspired much love and prayer, along with occasional frustration."

Andrew Copson, of the British Humanist Association, said: "On many social justice issues he was, of course, often spot on and used his public platform to express opinions that were widely shared by religious and non-religious people alike. When you look at the far more evangelical and conservative candidates that look in line to replace him, even a good humanist might be left with the feeling of better the devil you know."

The selection of his replacement will take much of the summer and will be made by a committee on which the two largest blocs are the representatives of the diocese of Canterbury and the General Synod. Two names will go forward to the prime minister but by a convention that has been in place since 2007 he is bound to pick the first on the list, unless changing circumstances make that impossible.ttention turns to candidates such as Sentamu and Chartres