Letter to the Editor of the Sunday Telegraph Regarding the Age of the Archbishop of York

The Archbishop of York Dr John Sentamu

Sunday 22nd July 2012

I know it is the silly season for news, but if ever there was a non-story it was on Page 14 of this Sunday’s Sunday Telegraph (22 July).  

It reported a discrepancy over the Archbishop of York’s birth date: his birth and marriage certificates, his passport and driving licence consistently record it as 10 June 1949.  Unfortunately, due care was not taken in checking that the date of birth had been correctly entered in some church documents, which continued to cite 1947 though in one case a correction was made.

I explained this to your reporter personally, but he still persisted in writing it up as a live issue and a “mystery”.  Is there anything mysterious about that?

Mr Kerron Cross
Director of Communications for the Archbishop of York

(Please see attached photocopy of birth certificate)

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