Sentamu Named Britain’s 1st Black Bishop

LONDON, Tuesday - A Ugandan-born Church of England cleric with firm anti-racist credentials on Tuesday became Britain’s first senior black bishop, appointed to head the Birmingham diocese. The appointment of John Sentamu (above), currently the suffragan Bishop of Stepney in east London, was announced by the prime minister’s Downing Street office, as is customary with senior Church of England appointments. A suffragan bishop is effectively a junior bishop responsible to a senior diocesan bishop. In London, Sentamu was one of four suffragans. Birmingham, England’s second city, is one of the most diverse in Britain, with areas of poverty and affluence side-by-side. There are many areas in the city where non-Christian religions are the majority. Sentamu replaces the Right Reverend Mark Santer, who is stepping down after 15 years in the post. Born in 1949, Sentamu is a high-profile, charismatic anti-racist campaigner who has in the past accused the Church of England of being institutionally racist. In 1997 he was an adviser to an inquiry into the murder of a black teenager by a gang of white youths and the resulting police investigation. The inquiry subsequently branded British police “institutionally racist.” In January 2000, the bishop said he had been stopped and searched by police officers while driving near St Paul’s Cathedral in central London. A scarf he was wearing was covering his clerical collar. Sentamu left Uganda as Idi Amin began his reign of terror. He was ordained in 1979 after studying at Cambridge University and in 1983 became a vicar in Tulse Hill, south London. Although he would be the highest-ranking black bishop, he is not the only one from an ethnic minority. The Bishop of Rochester, Michael Nazir-Ali — one of the presumed candidates to be the next Archbishop of Canterbury, the de-facto head of the Anglican Church worldwide — is of Pakistani origin. AFPEnds