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
Odo of Canterbury a saint. The relic list at Canterbury Cathedral mentions "a tooth of the Ven. Odo Abb. Of Battle". Odo of Canterbury Odo of Canterbury (died 1200), also known as Odo Cantianus or Odo of Kent, was a theologian and abbot of Battle. Odo was a monk of Christ Church, who later became a subprior. He was sent by his friend Thomas Becket in 1163 to attend an appeal with Pope Alexander III against the Archbishop of York, stemming from the tensions between Becket and King Henry II. In 1173 a great fire broke out at Christ Church. After the church