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Archbishop of Canterbury

 The Archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and principal leader of the Church of England, the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. The current Archbishop is Justin Welby, who was enthroned in the Canterbury Cathedral on March 21, 2013. Welby is 105th in a line which goes back more than 1400 years to Augustine of Canterbury, the "apostle to the English," sent from Rome in the year 597. Welby succeeded Rowan Williams.

From the time of Augustine until the 16th century, the archbishops of Canterbury were in full communion with the See of Rome and usually received the pallium from the pope. During the reign of King Henry VIII, the Church of England broke away from the authority of the pope. Thomas Cranmer became the first holder of the office  following the English Reformation in 1533, while Reginald Pole was the last Roman Catholic in the position, serving from 1556 to 1558 during the Counter-Reformation. In the Middle Ages, there was considerable variations in the methods of nomination of the archbishop of Canterbury and other bishops. At various times the choice was made by the canons of Caterbury Cathedral, the pope, or the King of England. Since the English Reformation, the Church of England has been more explicitly a state church and the choice is legally that of the Crown; today it is made by the reigning monarch on the advice of the Prime Minister, who in turn receives a shortlist of two names from an ad hoc committee called the Crown Nominations Committee.

Today the archbishop fills four main roles:

  1. He is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury, which covers the eastern parts of the county of Kent. Founded in 597, it is the oldest see in the English Church;
  2. He is the metropolitan archbishop of the Province of Canterbury, which covers the southern two-thirds of England;
  3. He is the senior primate and chief religious figure of the Church of England (the British monarch is the supreme governor of the church). Along with his colleague, the Archbishop of York, he chairs the General Synod and sits on or chairs many of the church's important boards and committees; power in the church is not centralized, however, so the two archbishops can often lead through persuasion. The Archbishop of Canterbury plays a central part in national ceremonies such as coronations; due to his public profile, his opinions are often in demand by the news media;
  4. As spiritual leader of the Anglican Communion, the archbishop, although without legal authority outside England, is recognized by convention as primus inter pares ("first among equals") of all Anglican primates worldwide. Since 1867 he has convened more or less decennial meetings of worldwide Anglican bishops, called the Lambeth Conference.
In the last two of these functions, he has an important ecumenical and interfaith role, speaking on behalf of Anglicans in England and worldwide.

The archbishop's main residence is Lambeth Palace in the London Borough of Lambeth. He also has lodgings in the Old Palace, Canterbury, located beside the Canterbury Cathedral, where the Chair of St Augustine sits.

As holder of one of the "five great sees" (the others being York, London, Durham, and Winchester), the archbishop of Canterbury is ex officio one of the Lords Spiritual of the House of Lords. He is one of the highest-ranking men in England and the highest ranking non-royal in the United Kingdom's order of precedence.

Since King Henry VIII broke with Rome, the archbishops of Canterbury have been selected by the English (British since the Act of Union 1707) monarch. Since the 20th century, the appointment of archbishops of Canterbury conventionally alternate between Anglo-Catholics and Evangelicals.

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