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 Archbishop of York also undertook that each of his successors should send an image of gold to the shrine of St. Thomas of Canterbury. With this pre-eminence of the Archbishop of Canterbury acknowledged by an Act of Parliament passed during the reign of Henry VIII, this status quo lasts to this day. The titles of the two archbishops have been distinguished since the 14th century with the Archbishop of Canterbury known as "Primate of All England" and the Archbishop of York as "Primate of England". A similar distinction in Ireland makes the Archbishop of Armagh "Primate of All Ireland" and