Church of England Appoints First Black Archbishop
The Church of England appointed its first black Archbishop, naming Ugandan-born John Sentamu, to the church's second-most important position.
The Church of England appointed its first black Archbishop yesterday, naming a leading activist on racism and inner-city crime, to the church's second-most important position.
Ugandan-born John Sentamu, a popular, socially liberal figure who led Church opposition to the Iraq war, has taken over as Archbishop of York, the Church said Friday.
As archbishop, 57-year-old Sentamu, whose cathedral is the world-famous Gothic building of York Minster, is the second-most important figure in the Church of England after Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams.
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Although Williams is also head of the Anglican Church, which covers the Church of England and its associated bodies worldwide, the Archbishop of York is not automatically second in the global hierarchy, reported Agence France Presse (AFP).
Sill, Sentamu said he hoped to help the Church "reconnect imaginatively with England."
"It is important that the Church of England's voice is heard locally, nationally and internationally, standing up for justice, bringing good news to the poor, healing to the broken-hearted, setting at liberty those who are oppressed, and proclaiming the death of Christ and his resurrection until he comes again," the new archbishop said in a statement.
Sentamu replaces Dr David Hope, who stood down as Archbishop of York in February to take the far more humble post of Vicar of Ilkley, a parish in Yorkshire, northern England.
York, an early center of Christianity in the north of England, is one of two so-called archdioceses in the Church of England, which have particular importance and power, due largely to their history.
