| Province of Canterbury | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Church | Church of England |
| Metropolitan bishop | Archbishop of Canterbury |
| Cathedral | Canterbury Cathedral |
| Dioceses | 30 |
TheProvince of Canterbury, or less formally theSouthern Province, is one of twoecclesiastical provinces which constitute theChurch of England. The other is theProvince of York (which consists of 12 dioceses).[1]
The Province consists of 30dioceses, covering roughly two-thirds ofEngland,[2] parts ofWales, all of theChannel Islands[3] andcontinental Europe, Morocco, Turkey, Mongolia and the territory of the former Soviet Union (under the jurisdiction of theDiocese of Gibraltar in Europe).
The Province previously also covered all ofWales but lost most of its jurisdiction in 1920, when the then four dioceses of theChurch in Wales weredisestablished and separated from Canterbury to form a distinct ecclesiastical province of theAnglican Communion.[1] The Province of Canterbury retained jurisdiction over eighteen areas of Wales that were defined as part of "border parishes", parishes whose ecclesiastical boundaries straddled the temporal boundary between England and Wales, that elected to remain part of the Church of England in the1915–1916 Church of England border polls.
The Province of Canterbury'smetropolitan bishop is theArchbishop of Canterbury[1] who also oversees theFalkland Islands, an extraprovincialparish.[4]
Bishops of the Southern Province meet inChapter, in which the episcopal roles (those of Bishops) are analogous to those within aCathedral Chapter.
In the 19th century,Edward White Benson,Archbishop of Canterbury, discussed with theBishop of Winchester and others the role of the Bishop of Winchester within the Chapter.Lambeth PalacelibrarianSamuel Kershaw uncovered documents in which the Bishop of Winchester wasSub-Dean and theBishop of LincolnChancellor, and others in which Winchester was Chancellor and Lincoln Vice-Chancellor. Benson ruled that the Bishop of Winchester would be Chancellor of the province and additionally Sub-Dean only during a vacancy in thesee of London (Dean of the province).[5]
Besides the Archbishop of Canterbury (Metropolitan and Primate), the officers of the chapter are:
Accordingly, at the confirmation ceremony followingJustin Welby's election asArchbishop of Canterbury on 4 February 2013, these were, respectively:Richard Chartres,Tim Dakin,Christopher Lowson,Nick Holtam,John Inge, andJames Langstaff.[7]
During the vacancy in the See of Canterbury followingJustin Welby's resignation,Sarah Mullally (Bishop of London) — in her capacity as Dean of the province — presided at the confirmation ofSophie Jelley's election to theSee of Coventry atLambeth Palace on 14 February 2025.[8]
The Bishops of London and Winchester join the Archbishop and two from the northern province of England (York and Durham) in havingex officio (meaning by virtue of the office they hold, hence automatically) the right to sit in theHouse of Lords subject to keeping to certainconstitutional conventions incumbent on Lords Spiritual requiring them to speak in an albeit often political, but clearly non-partisan manner, and not to participate in most party-whipped votes. Twenty-one other Church of England diocesan bishops (who have served the longest) form the other Lords Spiritual in the House of Lords.
{{cite book}}:|first2= has generic name (help)| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
