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1.
The first Archbishop of Canterbury was St Augustine who
arrived on the coast of Kent as a missionary to England in
597 AD. He came from Rome, sent by Pope Gregory the Great.
2. On his arrival Augustine was given a church at Canterbury
by the local King Ethelbert whose Queen, Bertha, was already
a Christian. This building had been a place of worship during
the Roman occupation of Britain.
3. Famous Archbishops of Canterbury were Augustine,
Theodore, Odo, Dunstan, Alphege, Anselm, Thomas the Becket
and Edmund.
4. Thomas Becket, who was murdered in his cathedral
on 29th December 1170. He was appointed by his King and friend,
Henry II, to bring the Church to the heel of the monarchy,
he did the reverse.
5. In the Reformation period Thomas Cranmer, who compiled
the first two Prayer Books and established what was to become
the liturgical tradition of the Church of England and Anglican
Churches the world over.
6.
With the Civil War, the Cathedral was sacked by the Puritans
(1642), the Cathedral Chapter was dissolved, and it was not
until the restoration of the monarchy in 1660 that the Church
of England was re-established and life returned to the Cathedral.
7.
In 1982 Pope John Paul II visited Canterbury and with Archbishop
Robert Runcie prayed at the site of St. Thomas Becket’s martyrdom.
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See below for our interview with Rowan Williams as well as 360-degree
photos of the Cathedral...
Interview with Rowan Williams
He is a 53-year-old theologian, former Archbishop of Wales and father
of two. Rowan Williams was a controversial candidate, but was named
as the new Archbishop of Canterbury in 2002.
See the Cathedral in 360 degrees» GO
 Have
your say: Is Rowan Williams the right man for the job?
"I'm
a theologian by training and I've been a teacher of theology for
a lot of my ministry and teachers of theology tend to have views
on all sorts of things and they have to engage with colleagues and
students who hold very varied opinions.
"But
no pastor or bishop holds a post in which their first task is to
fight for the victory of their personal judgements as if those were
final or infallible.
"My
first task is that of any ordained teacher which is to point to
the source without which none of our activity would make sense -
the gift of God as it is set before us in the Bible and Christian
belief", he said.
Young pretender
Dr Williams, who published his first book at the age of 29, was
only seven years older when he was appointed professor of divinity
at Oxford - the university's youngest professor.
He
is regarded as a liberal who has acknowledged ordaining a practising
gay priest and does not debase lesbian and gay clergy as some of
his fellow bishops have done. Despite this he is theologically orthodox
and believes consumerism exploits, corrupts and causes a premature
sexualisation of children.
Many
groups think he will modernise, or certainly bring a new face to
the Church of England.
He is a fan of the television programme Father Ted and is the first
Archbishop for many generations to have children of school age.
Photo
tour of Canterbury
St
Augustine's Chair
The Archbishop-elect will be enthroned on St Augustine's Chair at
The Main Altar on Thursday 27th February 2003.
The 13th century marble throne was originally part of the furnishings
of the Shrine of Thomas. It is the Seat of the Archbishop of Canterbury
from which he presides over the world-wide Anglican Communion, which
has developed from the Church of England.
10 things you didn't know about Rowan Williams
•
He learnt Russian in six months and speaks seven languages, including
Welsh
• He was a keen actor at Oxford, starring as Thomas More in
A Man for All Seasons
• Rowan Williams is unable to drive. He is driven everywhere
by his chaplain, so the chauffeur-driven world of Lambeth should
come naturally
• He has had curious fashion tastes with a particular fondness
for black berets
• He is hard of hearing in one of his ears
• He insists on always travelling second-class
• He is married to the daughter of the the Rt Rev Geoffrey
Paul. Jane Williams' father is the former Bishop of Bradford and
a highly respected evangelical leader
• Unlike his predecessor Dr George Carey who was a passionate
Arsenal fan, Dr Williams doesn't support any particular football
team
• At school, he had a permanent note excusing him from sports
• He is very fond of classical music, particularly Renaissance
Baroque and Bach
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