Summary
4 February 2013
The former Bishop of Durham, Justin Welby, will become the 105th Archbishop of Canterbury at a service at St Paul's Cathedral in London today, legally confirming his selection last year.
Reporter:
Robert Pigott, 大象传媒 Religious Affairs correspondent
Justin Welby will be the 105th Archbishop of Canterbury
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Report
Even by the standards of Church ritual, the confirmation of an Archbishop of Canterbury's election is an extraordinary event. Senior bishops will sit in St Paul's Cathedral as a court of law, using elaborate language and flowery titles to certify Justin Welby in his new post.
The ceremony, little changed over centuries, was originally intended to prevent false claimants being appointed to what were lucrative posts as bishop. Bishop Welby's enthronement, amid colourful ritual and soaring music, is next month in Canterbury Cathedral, and the event has usually eclipsed this legal ceremony.
However, Justin Welby requested that today's event be set in a full church service - including hymns and a sermon - to reflect the essentially religious nature of his new post. As the Archbishop of York, John Sentamu, reads and signs a 'final proclamation', Bishop Welby will become archbishop, and spiritual leader of some 80 million Anglicans across the world.
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Vocabulary
- ritual
solemn formal ceremony
- court of law
place where judges hear cases and make decisions based on the rules of the country
- flowery
(of language) elaborate or complicated
- lucrative posts
positions that are well paid
- enthronement
ceremony where a person with authority or influence, such as monarch or archbishop, starts their new role
- amid
amongst
- eclipsed
overshadowed or dominated
- essentially
mostly or primarily
- proclamation
public or official announcement
- Anglicans
members of the Church of England
