The Isle of Man's Lord Bishop, Graeme Knowles, has been handed one of the top jobs in the Church of England.

He's been appointed Dean of St Paul's Cathedral in London and will leave the Island towards the end of the year.

Bishop Knowles is said to be 'absolutely thrilled' at the appointment, but his departure is being seen as a great loss to the Church of England here.

Marian Kenny reports (text from attached audio):

Graeme Knowles became Bishop of Sodor and Man in 2003, a role which had remained vacant for many months.

He is at St Paul's today for the announcement of his appointment.

It's a high profile position in the Churh of England - St Paul's is a national landmark and has hosted many state occasions and royal ceremonies, broadcast to millions.

The Bishop of London, Dr Richard Chartres, describes him as having an extraordinary range of experience, from being vicar of a tough inner city parish through to his role as Bishop of Sodor and Man

He goes on to say there can be few people with such rich and varied experience.

But it's that experience which will be such a loss to the church here, and filling the vacuum he leaves may prove difficult.

(Image: The photograph of The Right Reverend Graeme Knowles which accompanied the announcement of his appointment as Dean of St Paul's Cathedral on the stpauls.co.uk website).