The Archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and primate of the Church of England. In this capacity, they are the diocesan bishop of the diocese of Canterbury, the metropolitan of the province of Canterbury, and the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion. Ecclesial functions aside, the archbishop is also one of the 26 Anglican bishops who sit in the House of Lords as a Lord Spiritual. The 106th archbishop is Dame Sarah Mullally, who was confirmed on 28 January 2026 and is the first woman to hold the office.
The first archbishop of Canterbury was Augustine, the "Apostle to the English", who was sent to England by Pope Gregory the Great and arrived in 597. From Augustine until William Warham the archbishops of Canterbury were in full communion with the Catholic Church. During the English Reformation, King Henry VIII broke communion with Rome and proclaimed himself the head of the Church of England. Thomas Cranmer, appointed in 1533, initially with Rome's approval, thereafter became the first Protestant archbishop of Canterbury and would become one of the most important figures in the development of Anglicanism.
The archbishop is appointed by the British monarch on the advice of the prime minister of the United Kingdom and formally elected by the college of canons of Canterbury Cathedral. In practice, however, candidates are chosen by the Crown Nominations Commission, a Church of England body which advises the prime minister.
Present roles and status
Currently, the archbishop fills four main roles:Archbishop's Roles and Responsibilities , Archbishop of Canterbury. Retrieved 8 February 2008.
Bishop of the diocese of Canterbury, which covers the eastern parts of the County of Kent. Founded in 597, it is the oldest see in the English church. Metropolitan archbishop of the province of Canterbury, which covers the southern two-thirds of England. The senior primate and chief religious figure of the Church of England (the British sovereign is the supreme governor of the church). Along with their colleague the archbishop of York they chair the General Synod, and sit on or chair many of the church's important boards and committees; power in the church is not highly centralised, however, so the two archbishops can often lead only through persuasion. The archbishop of Canterbury plays a central part in national ceremonies such as coronations; due to their high public profile, their opinions are often in demand by the news media. Spiritual leader of the Anglican Communion. The archbishop, although without legal authority outside England, is recognised by convention as ("first among equals") of all Anglican primates worldwide. Since 1867 the archbishop has convened approximately decennial meetings of worldwide Anglican bishops, the Lambeth Conferences.
In the last two of these functions, they have an important ecumenical and interfaith role, speaking on behalf of Anglicans in England and worldwide.
The archbishop's main residence is Lambeth Palace in the London Borough of Lambeth. They also have lodgings in the Old Palace, Canterbury, located beside Canterbury Cathedral, where the Chair of St Augustine sits.
As holder of one of the "five great sees" (the others being York, London, Durham and Winchester), the archbishop of Canterbury is ex officio one of the Lords Spiritual of the House of Lords. They are one of the highest-ranking people in England and the highest ranking non-royal in the United Kingdom's order of precedence.
Since Henry VIII broke with Rome, the archbishops of Canterbury have been selected by the English (British since the Act of Union in 1707) monarch. Since the 20th century, the appointment of archbishops of Canterbury conventionally alternates between Anglo-Catholics and Evangelicals.The Archbishop of Canterbury , Archbishop of York. Retrieved 31 March 2009.
The previous archbishop, Justin Welby, was the 105th holder of the office; he was enthroned at Canterbury Cathedral on 21 March 2013. As archbishop he signed himself as + Justin Cantuar. On 12 November 2024, he announced his decision to resign; he did so effective 7 January 2025.Orders in Council, 18 December 2024, page 42. Archived, 22 December 2024
Two other former archbishops were living : George Carey (born 1935), the 103rd archbishop; and Rowan Williams (born 1950), the 104th archbishop.
Additional roles
In addition to their office, the archbishop holds a number of other positions; for example, they are joint president of the Council of Christians and Jews in the United Kingdom. Some positions they formally hold ex officio and others virtually so (the incumbent of the day, although appointed personally, is appointed because of their office). Amongst these are: Chancellor of Canterbury Christ Church University Visitor for the following academic institutions: All Souls College, Oxford Selwyn College, Cambridge Merton College, Oxford Keble College, Oxford Ridley Hall, Cambridge The University of Kent (main campus located in Canterbury) King's College London University of King's College Sutton Valence School Benenden School Cranbrook School Haileybury and Imperial Service College Harrow School King's College School, Wimbledon The King's School, Canterbury St John's School, Leatherhead Marlborough College Dauntsey's School Wycliffe Hall, Oxford (also Patron) Governor of Charterhouse School Governor of Wellington College Visitor, The Dulwich Charities Visitor, Whitgift Foundation Visitor, Hospital of the Blessed Trinity, Guildford (Abbot's Fund) Trustee, Bromley College Trustee, Allchurches Trust President, Corporation of Church House, Westminster Director, Canterbury Diocesan Board of Finance Patron, St Edmund's School Canterbury Patron, The University of King's College, Halifax, Nova Scotia Patron, The Worshipful Company of Parish Clerks Patron, Prisoners Abroad Patron, The Kent Savers Credit Union Patron, Sanctuary Mental Health Ministries
Ecumenical and interfaith
The archbishop is also a president of Churches Together in England (an ecumenical organisation). Geoffrey Fisher, 99th archbishop of Canterbury, was the first since 1397 to visit Rome, where he held private talks with Pope John XXIII in 1960. In 2005, Rowan Williams became the first archbishop of Canterbury to attend a papal funeral since the Reformation. He also attended the inauguration of Pope Benedict XVI. The 101st archbishop, Donald Coggan, was the first to attend a papal inauguration, that of Pope John Paul II in 1978.
Since 2002, the archbishop has co-sponsored the Alexandria Middle East Peace process with the Grand Mufti of Egypt. In July 2008, the archbishop attended a conference of Christians, Jews and Muslims convened by the king of Saudi Arabia at which the notion of the "clash of civilizations" was rejected. Delegates agreed "on international guidelines for dialogue among the followers of religions and cultures." Delegates said that "the deepening of moral values and ethical principles, which are common denominators among such followers, would help strengthen stability and achieve prosperity for all humans."
Origins
It has been suggested that the Roman province of Britannia had four archbishops, seated at Londinium (London), Eboracum (York), Lindum Colonia (Lincoln) and Corinium Dobunnorum (Cirencester).Wacher, J., The Towns of Roman Britain, Batsford, 1974, especially pp. 84–86. However, in the 5th and 6th centuries Britannia began to be overrun by pagan, Germanic peoples who came to be known collectively as the Anglo-Saxons. Of the kingdoms they created, Kent arguably had the closest links with European politics, trade and culture, because it was conveniently situated for communication with continental Europe. In the late 6th century, King Æthelberht of Kent married a Christian Frankish princess named Bertha, possibly before becoming king, and certainly a number of years before the arrival of the first Christian mission to England.Catholic Encyclopedia: Bertha. He permitted the preaching of Christianity.Bede, Ecclesiastical History, i, 25.
The first archbishop of Canterbury was Saint Augustine of Canterbury (not to be confused with Saint Augustine of Hippo), who arrived in Kent in 597 AD, having been sent by Pope Gregory I on a mission to the English. He was accepted by King Æthelbert, on his conversion to Christianity, about the year 598. It seems that Pope Gregory, ignorant of recent developments in the former Roman province, including the spread of the Pelagian heresy, had intended the new archiepiscopal sees for England to be established in London and York.Bede, Ecclesiastical History, i, 29. In the event, Canterbury was chosen instead of London, owing to political circumstances.Brooks, N., The Early History of the Church of Canterbury, Leicester University Press, 1984, pp. 3–14. Since then the archbishops of Canterbury have been referred to as occupying the Chair of St. Augustine.
A gospel book believed to be directly associated with St Augustine's mission survives in the Parker Library, Corpus Christi College, University of Cambridge, England. Catalogued as Cambridge Manuscript 286, it has been positively dated to 6th-century Italy and this bound book, the St Augustine Gospels, is still used during the swearing-in ceremony of new archbishops of Canterbury.
Before the break with papal authority in the 16th century, the Church of England was an integral part of the Western European church. Since the break the Church of England, an established national church, still considers itself part of the broader Western Catholic tradition (although this is not accepted by the Roman Catholic Church which regards Anglicanism as schismatic and does not accept Anglican holy orders as valid) as well as being the "mother church" of the worldwide Anglican Communion.
The Report of the Commissioners appointed by his Majesty to inquire into the Ecclesiastical Revenues of England and Wales (1835) noted the net annual revenue for the Canterbury see was £19,182.The National Enclopaedia of Useful Knowledge, Vol.III, Charles Knight, London, 1847, p. 362
Province and Diocese of Canterbury
The archbishop of Canterbury exercises metropolitical (or supervisory) jurisdiction over the Province of Canterbury, which encompasses thirty of the forty-two dioceses of the Church of England, with the rest falling within the Province of York. The four Welsh dioceses were also under the province of Canterbury until 1920 when they were transferred from the established church of England to the disestablished Church in Wales.
The archbishop of Canterbury has a ceremonial provincial curia, or court, consisting of some of the senior bishops of their province. The bishop of London — the most senior cleric of the church with the exception of the two archbishops — serves as Canterbury's provincial dean, the bishop of Winchester as chancellor, the bishop of Lincoln as vice-chancellor, the bishop of Salisbury as precentor, the bishop of Worcester as chaplain and the bishop of Rochester as cross-bearer.
Along with primacy over the archbishop of York, the archbishop of Canterbury also has a precedence of honour over the other bishops of the Anglican Communion. They are recognised as primus inter pares, or first amongst equals. They do not, however, exercise any direct authority in the provinces outside England, except in certain minor roles dictated by Canon in those provinces (for example, they are the judge in the event of an ecclesiastical prosecution against the archbishop of Wales). They do hold metropolitical authority over several extra-provincial Anglican churches, and they serve as ex officio bishop of the Falkland Islands.
the archbishop has four suffragan bishops: