Roles & Responsibilities
- Overview
- Diocese of Canterbury
- Church of England
- Anglican Communion
- Ecumenical Relationships
- Inter Faith
- Lambeth Palace
- Archbishop as Patron
- Archbishop's Awards
- The Archbishop's Examination in Theology
- House of Lords
-
The Archbishops from Augustine to Williams »
- Appointing an Archbishop
- Confirming the Election of an Archbishop
- Enthronement »
Enthronement
The assumption of office by a new Archbishop of Canterbury has, since Anglo-Saxon times, been an event of significance for the diocese of Canterbury and the English nation as a whole.
With the growth of the worldwide Anglican Communion over the past two hundred years, and the developing ecumenical links of the Church of England, the actual Enthronement of the Archbishop has become an event of international importance.
The Enthronement is not the act by which the Archbishop becomes Archbishop. Today a long process of consultation, carried out by the Crown Appointments Commission, precedes the announcement of the person nominated for the office of Archbishop. The College of Canons of the Cathedral then elects that person as a sign of acceptance by the Cathedral and Diocese, and this is followed by the Confirmation of Election, a legal ceremony which, on this occasion, took place in St Paul's Cathedral in London. With his Confirmation of Election, the Archbishop becomes Archbishop. His Enthronement, however, is the demonstration for the world to see that he is Archbishop.
The Enthronement Service has changed much over the centuries. In Mediaeval times it took place within the setting of the Eucharist and sometimes, as in the case of Thomas Becket, included the person's consecration as a bishop. From the Reformation to the early nineteenth century it was a ceremony at Matins, for which the Archbishop often sent a proxy.
The Enthronement of Archbishop Sumner in 1848 began the modern trend of an impressive ceremony, at which the Archbishop is welcomed to his Cathedral; makes his corporal oath on the Canterbury Gospels to observe inviolable the Statutes and customs of the Cathedral and Metropolitical Church; is enthroned in the Quire Throne as bishop of the See of Canterbury, by the Archdeacon of Canterbury; and then enthroned in the Marble Chair of St Augustine as Primate of All England and President of the Anglican Communion, by the Dean.
After the Greeting of Peace, Te Deum is sung and the Archbishop preaches his first sermon in his Cathedral Church.
Before the Archbishop gives his blessing to the people, all make an Act of Commitment, and prayers are said that we may more faithfully serve God and show forth the love of Christ to His world.