WHAT HAPPENS WHEN AN ARCHBISHOP
IS ENTHRONED?
On 21st March, the Most Reverend Justin Welby was enthroned as the
105th Archbishop of Canterbury.
Here is a brief explanation of what happens when an Archbishop is
enthroned...
The modern term would be inauguration, but 'enthronement' remains
appropriate: the ceremony is all about the Archbishop of Canterbury
'taking his seat' - in fact, two seats.
Archbishop Welby's public ministry began on 21st March when he was
enthroned - or 'installed' - in two special seats in Canterbury Cathedral.
First, the Archbishop was installed on the Diocesan throne as the Bishop
of the Diocese of Canterbury, the oldest diocese in the English church. He
was then installed on the chair of St Augustine as Primate of All England –
the ‘first bishop’ in the country. This latter enthronement has also come to
represent the Archbishop's inauguration as the spiritual leader of the
worldwide Anglican Communion.
Two seats - The notion of a ‘seat’ dominates the ceremony enthroning an
Archbishop of Canterbury. The very word cathedral comes from the Latin
cathedra, for the seat where a bishop would sit to teach the faith to the
people of the diocese. Another word for diocese is See, from the Latin,
sedes – seat or chair. While a cathedral plays many roles, essentially it is
the church where the bishop’s seat is – the particular church of which he
is appointed bishop & pastor. In this respect, the enthronement of the
Archbishop of Canterbury has much in common with that of any bishop in
any cathedral. But what is especially important about the ceremony held
on 21 March was the seat in question: the chair of St Augustine is the
primatial seat of the Church of England – a primacy which has lasted since
St Augustine came to preach in England at the orders of Pope St Gregory
the Great in the 6th century.
Three knocks on the door - Before the enthronement service,