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
Æthelnoth (archbishop of Canterbury) a student of Ælfric of Eynsham, the homilist. In 1022, Æthelnoth went to Rome to obtain the pallium, and was received by Pope Benedict VIII. On his return trip, he bought a relic of St Augustine of Hippo for 100 silver talents and one gold talent. He gave the relic to Coventry Abbey. He also presided over the translation of the relics of Ælfheah, his predecessor at Canterbury who was regarded as a martyr and saint. In 1022, Æthelnoth consecrated Gerbrand as bishop for the Diocese of Roskilde, which was in Scandinavia. The archbishop of Hamburg-Bremen was the metropolitan of