The Church of England's newly appointed second-most senior cleric vowed on Tuesday to use his new role to help soothe the nation's divisions following years of political turmoil over Brexit.
Stephen Cottrell will take over as archbishop of York from Ugandan-born John Sentamu, who steps down in June next year after 14 years in the post.
Sentamu, 70, called his successor a man with "the gospel in his belly and a tiger in the tank".
"I am humbled and excited at the prospect," said Cotterell of his new role, which carries the title Primate of England and oversees the 12 dioceses in the north of England.
Britain is due to leave the European Union in January following an election win for Boris Johnson's Conservatives, capping a tumultuous period since the 2016 Brexit referendum.
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Cottrell, 61, told a news conference in London that the Church had a role to play in healing the wounds.
"I hope to help the Church be more joyful and more effective in sharing the gospel and bringing hope and unity to our nation," he said.
Addressing Johnson's promise to follow the ideas of the so-called one-nation Conservatives, the bishop said he backed the idea generally but added: "One nation must also be one nation in relationship with other nations."
Cottrell said he hoped to use the power of the Church to help "address the discrepancies of wealth and opportunity" and work with the government on its plans to rejuvenate his new northern home.
"I'm very interested in entering into those conversations because my experience is that when the Church adds its voice to these causes, it helps lift them above party politics," he said.
Cottrell will be the 98th archbishop of York, with the first being Saint Paulinus in the year 627.
Born into a working-class family, he has said in the past that the Church needed to rid itself of its middle-class image.
His religious journey began as an adolescent when he saw the 1977 television series "Jesus of Nazareth" directed by Franco Zeffirelli with Robert Powell in the lead role.
"When it finished, I went up to my bedroom, I lay on my bed and I wept," he said on Tuesday.
"Well, here I am nearly 50 years later. I can't quite believe it."
A bishop for 15 years -- first in Reading and then Chelmsford in southeastern England -- Cottrell briefly worked in the film industry before training for the priesthood.
He was ordained aged 26.
He has written more than 20 books, including works for children and others on evangelism and spirituality. He has twice walked the Camino pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela in northern Spain.
A lively media performer, he recently joined actor and comedian Russell Brand's podcast as part of his efforts to reach out to non-churchgoers.
He said Brand was like many other people, he had "a real longing for peace and truth", adding: "We're obviously not a nation of churchgoers, but we are a nation of people who are hungry for meaning hungry for value."
His wife Rebecca is a potter and they have three sons.
Cottrell's appointment maintains the grip on the Church of England hierarchy of evangelicals -- those more concerned with immediate experiences of religion than internal debates over dogma and ritual.
He will work alongside the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, the Church's most senior cleric and the spiritual leader of the world's Anglicans.
Welby, also an evangelical, said: "He will be both an encouraging and a challenging colleague, and am sure that working together we will be able to address spiritually and practically the great challenges facing our country, and facing the Church of England."
The Church of England is the established state Church in England and dates back to Henry VIII's split from the Roman Catholic Church in the 1530s.
Queen Elizabeth II, the Church's supreme governor, appoints archbishops on the advice of the prime minister.
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