1. John Sentamu was Archbishop of York and Primate of England from 2005 to 2020.
49 Facts About John Sentamu
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John Sentamu studied for ordination at Ridley Hall, Cambridge, and was ordained in 1979.
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John Sentamu has received attention for his vocal criticism of former Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe.
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John Sentamu was omitted from the first list of new peerages following his resignation as archbishop, but it was announced in December 2020 that John Sentamu would be created a crossbench life peer in the second list of 2020 Political Honours.
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John Sentamu was born in 1949 in Masooli village, Gayaza, near Kampala, Uganda, the sixth of thirteen children.
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John Sentamu obtained an LLB degree from Makerere University, Kampala in 1971, and practised as an advocate of the High Court of Uganda until 1974, being briefly a judge of the High Court.
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John Sentamu fled his home country to arrive as an immigrant in the United Kingdom in 1974.
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John Sentamu studied theology at Selwyn College, Cambridge, where he subsequently received a BA degree in 1976, promoted to the Cambridge MA in 1979, and a PhD degree in 1984.
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John Sentamu trained for the priesthood at Ridley Hall, Cambridge, being ordained a priest in 1979.
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John Sentamu worked as assistant chaplain at Selwyn College, as chaplain at a remand centre and as curate and vicar in a series of parish appointments.
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John Sentamu was consecrated a bishop on 25 September 1996 by George Carey, Archbishop of Canterbury, at St Paul's Cathedral; to serve as Bishop of Stepney, a suffragan and area bishop in the Diocese of London.
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John Sentamu became President of Youth for Christ in 2004 and President of the YMCA in April 2005.
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John Sentamu was formally elected by the chapter of York Minster on 21 July, legally confirmed as archbishop at St Mary-le-Bow, London on 5 October, and enthroned at York Minster on 30 November 2005, at a ceremony with African singing and dancing and contemporary music, with Sentamu himself playing African drums during the service.
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John Sentamu was the first black archbishop in the Church of England.
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John Sentamu took up the position when the university opened on 1 August 2007.
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On 15 July 2010, John Sentamu was presented with an honorary degree from the University of York by the Provost of Vanbrugh College, David Efird of the Department of Philosophy, and on 16 July 2010 was presented with an honorary degree from the University of Leeds by the chancellor of the university, Melvyn Bragg.
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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.
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In October 2007 John Sentamu was awarded the "Yorkshireman of the Year" title by the Black Sheep Brewery.
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In October 2018, John Sentamu announced his retirement, scheduled for 7 June 2020.
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John Sentamu moved with his wife to Berwick and, on 14 June 2021, was licensed an honorary assistant bishop of the Diocese of Newcastle.
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John Sentamu acknowledged that he did not act on the disclosure but claimed it was not his responsibility as archbishop to deal with the disclosure as "the action following a disclosure to the bishop of Sheffield was his and his alone".
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John Sentamu further tried to claim that the law prevented him acting:.
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John Sentamu has spoken on issues including young people, the family, slavery, and injustice and conflict abroad.
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In 2006, John Sentamu featured prominently in the British press because of his comments on the treatment of detainees in Guantanamo Bay Naval Base.
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John Sentamu believes that food poverty is causing malnutrition in the UK.
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John Sentamu claimed it was the eighth time he had been questioned by police in eight years, and that he was the only Church of England bishop to have been stopped by police in this way.
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On 9 December 2007, during a live television interview with Andrew Marr on BBC One, John Sentamu made a protest against Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe.
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John Sentamu took the white insert off his clerical shirt and cut it up stating that:.
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John Sentamu's protest followed criticism against Mugabe at the EU-Africa summit in Lisbon.
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In December 2008, John Sentamu again spoke out against Mugabe, saying "The time has come for Robert Mugabe to answer for his crimes against humanity, against his countrymen and women and for justice to be done".
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On 26 November 2017, John Sentamu returned to The Andrew Marr Show and kept his promise to reinstate his dog collar following Robert Mugabe's resignation earlier in the week.
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John Sentamu then put on a new dog collar which he had brought with him.
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John Sentamu said it could be possible for Zimbabweans to forgive Mr Mugabe.
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John Sentamu compared those who practised short selling of HBOS shares, driving the share prices down, to "bank robbers".
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John Sentamu, born in Uganda, said laws being debated in Uganda which would impose the death penalty on homosexuals and on those supporting them were "victimising".
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John Sentamu told the BBC that the proposed law "tends to confuse all of homosexual relationships with what you call aggravated stuff and that's the problem", but that the Anglican Communion was committed to recognising that gay people were valued by God.
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In 2016, speaking to Piers Morgan, John Sentamu said that he would not call homosexuality a 'sin' and still supported civil unions while opposing same-sex marriage.
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John Sentamu has contributed to The Sun tabloid newspaper, and in 2012 he contributed to the first edition of the Sun on Sunday.
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In September 2007, John Sentamu wrote in his column that the parents of the missing Madeleine McCann, were subject to a "whispering campaign" and were entitled to the presumption of innocence.
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On Easter Sunday 2008, John Sentamu baptised 20 people by full immersion in a tank of water outside St Michael-le-Belfrey Church in York.
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On 6 June 2008, John Sentamu completed a charity skydive from 12,500 feet with a member of the Red Devils parachute team.
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Yorkshire businessman Guy Brudenell had challenged John Sentamu to do the jump at a charity dinner and Brudenell took part in the jump on the day.
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In recognition of what was described as his "pluck", John Sentamu was later given honorary membership of the Parachute Regimental Association.
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On 15 April 2011, John Sentamu addressed the crowd at Craven Park before the Engage Super League Rugby league match between Hull Kingston Rovers and Wigan Warriors.
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John Sentamu asked the crowd to join him in prayer extolling the virtues of teamwork and harmony in sport.
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John Sentamu was named in The Guardian and the Church Times alongside Peter Burrows, Steven Croft, Martyn Snow, Glyn Webster and Roy Williamson, as subject of Clergy Disciplinary Measure complaints owing to their inaction on the survivor's disclosure.
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John Sentamu had acknowledged receipt of a letter from the survivor with an assurance of "prayers through this testing time".
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The diocese of York insists that John Sentamu did not fail to act on any disclosures because that responsibility lay with Ineson's local bishop, Steven Croft, who was at the time bishop of Sheffield.
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In 2023, Lord John Sentamu was asked by the Bishop of Newcastle to step back from active ministry as an assistant bishop in the Diocese of Newcastle "until both the findings and his response can be explored further" after an independent review criticised his failure to act after being told of Ineson's claim of abuse.