Archbishop of Canterbury

Justin Welby, Acting Archbishop of Canterbury (2014)

The Archbishop of Canterbury is Primate of All England and Spiritual Head of the Church of England and Honorary Head of the Anglican Communion . Justin Welby has been the 105th Archbishop of Canterbury since March 2013 .

General

His bishopric is Canterbury Cathedral and his official London residence is Lambeth Palace . Since Henry VIII's break with the Roman Catholic Church , the Archbishops of Canterbury have been appointed by the King of England . Today, the Prime Minister is proposing to the monarch one of two candidates previously agreed by a committee made up of clergy and lay people . The crown no longer rejects the prime minister's proposal.

The first Archbishop of Canterbury was Saint Augustine of Canterbury , whom Pope Gregory the Great sent to Kent in 597 . The Archdiocese of Canterbury is therefore known as the "See of St. Augustine".

The Archbishop is Chancellor of Canterbury Christ Church University .

Functions

The archbishop performs various tasks. Among other things, he is:

• Bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury,
• Metropolitan of the Ecclesiastical Province of Canterbury ,
• Primates of all England ,
• as Lord Bishop member of the British House of Lords ,
• as well as Honorary Head of the worldwide Anglican Church.

Because of the diverse responsibilities, Archbishop Rowan Williams convened a committee of experts to advise on a division of tasks. One of their proposals is for the appointment of a “Bishop of Canterbury” to take over duties within the diocese. There is a similar arrangement for the Diocese of Rome , for example . There the Pope hands over the management of the diocese's official business to a specially appointed cardinal vicar .

Official

For the successor of Archbishop Williams a job advertisement was published on the Internet on March 29, 2012. In November 2012, former oil manager and future Bishop of Durham Justin Welby was named the 105th Archbishop of Canterbury and was recognized by Elizabeth II on January 7, 2013. He succeeded Rowan Douglas Williams on March 21, 2013 , who in turn took over from George Leonard Carey in 2002.

See also

• List of Archbishops of Canterbury

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Job posting  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
2. ↑ London Gazette January 14, 2013
3. ↑ Justin Welby is enthroned as Archbishop of Canterbury BBC News March 21, 2013, accessed March 22, 2013

Web links

Commons : Archbishops of Canterbury  - collection of images, videos and audio files