John Sentamu

2008/9 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Religious figures and leaders

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Archbishop of York
[[Image: |200px]]
The pectoral cross Sentamu is seen here wearing is decorated with images and words associated with Oscar Romero
Enthroned	10 May 2005
Ended	Incumbent
Predecessor	David Hope
Born	10 June 1949 (1949-06-10) Kampala, Uganda

John Tucker Mugabi Sentamu (born 10 June 1949 in Kampala, Uganda) is the 97th Archbishop of York, Metropolitan of the province of York, and Primate of England. He is the second most senior cleric in the Church of England, after the Archbishop of Canterbury.

Biography

John Sentamu was born in 1949 in a village near Kampala, Uganda, the sixth of thirteen children. He read law at Makerere University, Kampala, and practised as an advocate of the High Court of Uganda. Sentamu was appointed a High Court judge in 1973 at the age of 24 by the newly-ascendent Idi Amin; his judicial independence earned the dictator's ire, however and he was locked up for ninety days, three weeks after his marriage. In a speech in 2007 he described how during that time he had been "kicked around like a football and beaten terribly", saying "the temptation to give up hope of release was always present". In 1974 he fled to the United Kingdom.

He read theology at Selwyn College, Cambridge ( BA 1976, MA 1979, PhD 1984), and trained for the priesthood at Ridley Hall, Cambridge, being ordained a priest in 1979. He worked as assistant chaplain at Selwyn College, as chaplain at a remand centre, and as curate, priest and vicar in a series of parish appointments before his consecration in 1996 as Bishop of Stepney (a suffragan bishop in the Diocese of London). It was during this time that he served as advisor to the Stephen Lawrence Judicial Enquiry. In 2002 he chaired the Damilola Taylor review. That same year he was appointed Bishop of Birmingham, where his ministry, according to the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, was praised by "Christians of all backgrounds".

On 17 June 2005 the Prime Minister's office announced his translation to York as the 97th Archbishop. He was formally elected by the Canons of York Minster on 21 July, legally confirmed as Archbishop in London on 5 October, and enthroned at York Minster on 30 November 2005 (the feast of Saint Andrew), at a ceremony with African singing and dancing and contemporary music, with the Archbishop himself playing African drums during the service..

On 16 July 2007, John Sentamu was presented with an Honorary Degree from the University of Hull by the chancellor of the university Virginia Bottomley at Hull City Hall during the graduation ceremony for graduands of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences.

On 19 July 2007, he was presented with an Honorary Degree (Doctor of Letters) from the University of Sheffield in recognition of his distinguished career as a scholar and theologian.

In October 2007, Dr Sentamu was awarded the Yorkshire Man of the Year title by the Black Sheep Brewery. In his acceptance speech, Dr Sentamu praised the welcome he had received from the people of Yorkshire, and made reference to the African-Yorkshire DNA connection, joking that perhaps his parents had this in mind when they gave him the name Mugabi, which spelled backwards is Ibagum (ee-by-gum).

Views

In an interview a week before his enthronement he, among other things, called for a re-discovery of English pride and cultural identity, warning that zeal for multiculturalism had sometimes "seemed to imply, wrongly for me, 'let other cultures be allowed to express themselves but do not let the majority culture at all tell us its glories, its struggles, its joys, its pains'." Just as at Birmingham, Sentamu has expressed a desire to be known informally as Archbishop for York (rather than of).

Early in 2006, Archbishop Sentamu was featured prominently in the British press for his comments on what he saw as injustices over the treatment of alleged prisoners of war in Guantanamo Bay Naval Base .

For a week, starting August 14, 2006, Archbishop Sentamu camped in York Minster, foregoing food in solidarity with those impacted by the Middle East conflict.

In 2006 he claimed that the BBC is frightened of criticising Islam.

One of Sentamu's favourite references is to "The Chocolate Trinity" of God-fearing Quaker capitalists who were involved in developing the chocolate industry:

• George Cadbury: "More than just a sweet man"
• Joseph Rowntree: "…an adventurer to the end of life, forever peering forward, never content with what had been achieved."
• Joseph Storrs Fry II (J. S. Fry): "…the very model of the pre-1860 Quaker, with his plain dress a relic of the past and a reflection of his narrow conservative approach to both religion and business."

In 2006, he turned down the chance to appear in the reality TV show Celebrity Big Brother, saying "Celebrity can be malign in that it becomes a form of idolatry, and people live their lives vicariously through the rich and famous rather than attending to their own lives."

Sentamu has been a prominent opponent of the Equality Act (Sexual Orientation) Regulations . As Bishop of Stepney, he was one of only four United Kingdom bishops or archbishops who expressly declined to sign the Cambridge Accord, affirming the human rights of homosexuals.

On 9 December 2007, during a live television interview with Andrew Marr on BBC One Dr Sentamu made a protest against Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe. Dr Sentamu ripped off his clerical collar/ Dog collar and cut it up stating that

His protest follows criticism against Mugabe at the EU–Africa summit in Lisbon.

Sentamu has become a season ticket holder at York City FC, and has attended as many games as his busy schedule allowed during the 2007/08 season.