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
Primacy of Canterbury Primacy of Canterbury Within the Church of England, the primacy of Canterbury or primacy of England is the supremacy of the Archbishop of Canterbury (as "Primate of All England") over the Archbishop of York. The question of whether the Archbishop of Canterbury or the Archbishop of York should take precedence was once a cause of a long struggle and frequently embittered the mutual relations between the two sees. The dispute was temporarily resolved in 1071 after Lanfranc, Archbishop of Canterbury, and Thomas of Bayeux, Archbishop of York, submitted the matter in person to Pope Alexander II in Rome. He decided