John Sentamu

John Sentamu

John Tucker Mugabi Sentamu ( /ˈsentəmuː/, ; born 10 June 1949) is the 97th Archbishop of York, Metropolitan of the province of York, Primate of England and a columnist for The Sun. He is the second most senior cleric in the Church of England, after the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams.

Born near Kampala in present-day Uganda, Sentamu studied law at Makerere University before gaining employment as an advocate of the Supreme Court of Uganda. Speaking out against the regime of President Idi Amin, he was briefly imprisoned before fleeing to the United Kingdom in 1974. Here, he devoted himself to Anglicanism, beginning his study of theology at Selwyn College, Cambridge in 1976 and eventually gaining a doctorate in 1984. He studied for ordination at Ridley Hall, Cambridge, and was ordained in 1979. In 1996 he was consecrated as the Bishop of Stepney and in 2002 moved to the position of Bishop of Birmingham. In 2005 he was appointed to the position of Archbishop of York.

Sentamu is a traditionalist within the Church of England, generally supporting socially conservative moral positions, publicly criticising multiculturalism and homosexual behaviour. He has also received attention for his vocal criticism of Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe.