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
John of Canterbury did not take up the see. At Lyon, he forbade the preaching of the Waldensians. He resigned his position at Lyon, to become a monk at Clairvaux, where he lived out his life. He was the addressee in his retirement of an important papal letter, "Cum Marthae circa", dated 29 November 1202. John of Canterbury John of Canterbury (died 1204) was Bishop of Poitiers 1162 to 1181 and Archbishop of Lyon 1181 to 1193. He became a “cosmopolitan and much-respected churchman”. He began as a clerk to Theobald of Canterbury. He became Treasurer of York in 1152. At the wish