Archbishop of Canterbury 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 at Canterbury Cathedral on 21 March 2013. Welby is the 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
Lyfing (Archbishop of Canterbury) Lyfing (Archbishop of Canterbury) Lyfing (died 12 June 1020) was an Anglo-Saxon Bishop of Wells and Archbishop of Canterbury. Lyfing was born "Ælfstan" and took his ecclesiastical name from "leof-carus" (= "darling"). Lyfing was abbot of Chertsey Abbey from about 989. He became Bishop of Wells in 998 or 999, and in 1013 King Æthelred the Unready appointed him to the see of Canterbury. Lyfing was taken captive by Vikings and held prisoner for a time, but he was released in time to attend the Witenagemot in 1014, and he started repairs of the damage the Vikings had done to