Dr Williams was a one-off, now it's back to business as usual Dr Barry Morgan The making of an archbishop Listen to Dr Morgan

The newly-elected Archbishop of Wales' first aim in his new job is to connect the Church In Wales with ordinary people.

Dr Barry Morgan, the Bishop of Llandaf, was voted in by an electoral college at Llandrindod Wells on Monday.

The Welsh-speaking golf enthusiast, 56, succeeds popular Dr Rowan Williams, who now heads the Anglican Church as Archbishop of Canterbury.

But Dr Morgan said his predecessor will be an "impossible act to follow" as he looks to increase the influence of the Church in everyday life.

Connections

"It's more of the same," he said of his aims in the new post, in which he will have to bolster church attendance.

Rowan Williams will be 'impossible' to follow

"Lots of people in this country say they believe in God, but they don't connect with the institutional church.

"How can one make that connection? We as a Church don't seem to have been able very well to do it.

"Society is changing very quickly and the Church needs to explore ways in which it can continue to conduct its ministry and mission in 21st Century Wales."

Crisis

Dr Morgan also will face a financial crisis, with insufficient income to maintain all its churches, and to fund the current number of full-time priests.

He is older and less controversial than his predecessor but nevertheless has had his own share of troubles, both during his time at the diocese in Cardiff and in his previous job as Bishop of Bangor.

In March, he was forced to apologise on behalf of the Church when Canon Lawrence Davies was jailed for sexually abusing two boys who later became priests themselves.

While he was in charge at Bangor, he had to sack Clifford Williams, a priest who was found guilty of having an adulterous affair with a parishioner.

One-off

And Dr Morgan said it will be hard to follow much-respected Dr Williams "because he is so gifted".

"God has made me a different kind of person - I can only bring the gifts that I've got to this job and not get too hung up about that.

"He was a one-off, now it's back to business as usual."

But supporters say Welsh-speaking Dr Morgan also shows great understanding of human frailty.

He said he was merely "an ordinary bloke who has got ordinary interests and has spent the whole of his life in Wales".