Justin Welby Enthroned As New Archbishop of Cantebury

Reuters reports that in Britain today, Justin Welby was officially enthroned as the 105th Archbishop of Canterbury. The Telegraph describes the elaborate ceremony held at Cantebury Cathedral which made Welby the head of the Church of England and the leader of the Anglican Communion around the world. In his inaugural sermon (full text), Archbishop Justin said in part:

For more than a thousand years this country has to one degree or another sought to recognise that Jesus is the Son of God; by the ordering of its society, by its laws, by its sense of community. Sometimes we have done better, sometimes worse. When we do better we make space for our own courage to be liberated, for God to act among us and for human beings to flourish. Slaves were freed, Factory Acts passed, and the NHS and social care established through Christ-liberated courage. The present challenges of environment and economy, of human development and global poverty, can only be faced with extraordinary courage.

The new archbishop brings an unusual personal history to the position.  For 11 years before beginning his theological studies, he worked as an executive in French and British oil exploration and production companies. While he was in France, his 7-month old daughter was killed in a car crash.  Welby's paternal grandfather, Bernard Weiler, was a German Jewish immigrant who moved to England in 1884. (Background). The Archbishop's father led a complicated and secretive life. Welby learned his true family history only as an adult.