CANTERBURY, England (Episcopal News Service) -- One-time oil executive and former bishop of
Anglican Communion News Service
Archbishop Justin Welby
Durham Justin Welby was formally enthroned (twice) as the 105th archbishop of Canterbury on March 21 during a two-hour ceremony that blended an ancient liturgy with a few modern twists.
With Welby’s enthronement, he joins a succession spanning more than 1,400 years, dating back to 597 AD when St. Augustine became the first archbishop of Canterbury.
Anglican Communion and ecumenical leaders, members of the British royal family, including the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall, and senior representatives of the U.K. government, including Prime Minister David Cameron, were among the 2,000 invited guests attending the service at Canterbury Cathedral in England’s southeastern county of Kent.
The U.S.-based Episcopal Church was represented by Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, as one of the Anglican Communion’s 38 primates, and her canon, the Rev. Chuck Robertson. Jefferts Schori noted during an Episcopal News Service interview that Welby had attended the Episcopal Church’s General Convention in 2009 and House of Bishops meeting in March 2012 and that people who spoke with him appreciated his good humor and depth of spirit.
The service began at 3 p.m. local time (11 a.m. EST) when the Very Rev. Robert Willis, Dean of Canterbury Cathedral, read out a letter from Queen Elizabeth II, supreme governor of the Church of England, authorizing the dean and cathedral representatives to go to the church’s west door to greet the archbishop.
In a famous tradition, the archbishop banged on the west door three times with his pastoral staff, and the dean opened the door to welcome him.
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