Ugandan-Born Cleric Named U.K. Archbishop

A Ugandan-born cleric who opposes gay priests in the Anglican church and is a foe of the U.S.-led war in Iraq was named Friday as the first black archbishop in the nearly 500-year history of the Church of England.

The Right Rev. John Sentamu, 56, now bishop of Birmingham, was appointed by the British government as archbishop of York, the church’s second-highest position after Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, who leads the worldwide Anglican communion.

Sentamu was recently appointed by Williams to a committee formed to try to mend a rift in the church caused by the New Hampshire diocese’s decision to appoint an openly homosexual priest V. Gene Robinson as a bishop.

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