Who is the Archbishop of Canterbury?

The Archbishop of Canterbury is the spiritual head and chief bishop of the Church of England, or the Anglican Church. The person in the archbishop role serves as the symbolic leader of the churches that make up the Anglican Communion, though each church has its own bishop and handles its own governance.

At one time, the Roman Catholic Church held sway in England, and the pope selected the Archbishop of Canterbury. In 597, Pope Gregory I chose Augustine of Canterbury as the first to hold the title. Besides Augustine, other well-known Archbishops of Canterbury are Anselm (1093—1109) and Thomas Becket (1162—70). Anselm is known for his work in medieval philosophy. Becket, who was friends with King Henry II, later broke with him over the monarch’s role in the church and was ultimately murdered.

The office of Archbishop of Canterbury changed drastically in the 16th century. King Henry VIII of England had initially defended the Catholic Church against Protestant Reformers, but he reversed course when the Church of Rome refused to annul his marriage to Catherine of Aragon. With the passing of the Act of Supremacy in 1534, the English monarch became the head of the newly formed Church of England. King Henry then appointed Thomas Cranmer as Archbishop of Canterbury, the first Protestant to hold the title. Cranmer promptly gave Henry what he wanted: an annulment of his marriage.

Since the late 1970s, the Archbishop of Canterbury has been selected by the Crown Nominations Commission who recommends a candidate to the monarch of England for approval. In October 2025, Sarah Mullally was nominated as the next Archbishop of Canterbury (to be legally confirmed in January 2026). Mullally is the first woman to be appointed to the role, and the move has concerned traditional churches within the Anglican Communion. Mullally’s gender and her support of same-sex unions have led to a schism within Anglicanism. The dissenting churches have formed the Global Anglican Communion, which attempts to adhere to traditional teachings, including following Scripture’s prohibition of women as spiritual leaders in the church (1 Timothy 2:11–12).