Portal:Christianity/Selected article/August 2008

The list of Archbishops of Canterbury mentions those who have served as the Archbishop of Canterbury; acknowledged as the chief 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 see that churches must be in communion with in order to be a part of the Anglican Communion.

The current archbishop is Rowan Williams. He is the 104th in a line that goes back more than 1400 years to St Augustine of Canterbury, who founded the oldest see in England in the year 597.

From the time of St. Augustine until the 16th century, the Archbishops of Canterbury were in full communion with the Bishop of Rome. During the English Reformation the church broke away from the authority of the Pope, at first temporarily and later more permanently. Since then they have been outside of the succession of the Roman Catholic Church's hierarchy and have led the independent national church.