York Minster

Archbishop

John Sentamu was born in 1949 in a village near Kampala, Uganda, the sixth of thirteen children. He was educated for the 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-ascendant Idi Amin; his judicial independence earned the dictator's ire, however, and he suffered threats and physical violence before fleeing to the United Kingdom in 1974.

He read theology at Selwyn College, Cambridge (BA 1976, MA MPhil 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 June, 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 remarkable ceremony with African singing and dancing and contemporary music, with the Archbishop himself playing African drums during the service.