THE ARCHBISHOP OF YORK

Dr John Sentamu, Archbishop of York, has managed to remain a clear moral voice, in touch with both modern life and the church's traditional values – against the background of a church which is riven by doctrinal struggles of its own.

Nonetheless, Dr Sentamu has been a strong opponent of the gradual secularisation of British public life – from the councils who refer to Christmas as 'Winterval' to the Post Office which dropped religious themes from its Christmas stamps.

He spoke up in defence of Heathrow check-in worker Nadia Eweida, who was suspended for refusing to cover up her crucifix necklace. And he lent a Christian voice to the protests against the continuing imprisonment of muslim terrorist suspects in Guantanamo Bay.

Even so, he is an apt politician, aware of the impact his words may have, and skilful at negotiating the complex politics of the church of England.

Born in Uganda, he began his career as a lawyer. He was a vocal opponent of the murderous regime of the dictator Idi Amin, and was lucky to escape the country with his life in 1974. His friend and mentor, Archbishop Janani Luwum, was not so lucky. But it was his murder which helped Dr Sentamu to discover his vocation to the priesthood.

He spent 13 years as a priest in Tulse Hill, an ethnically diverse area of south London, and was eventually consecrated Bishop of Stepney in 2002. From there he moved to Birmingham, before he became the first black Archbishop of York in 2005.

All this time, he was unafraid of taking a stand on difficult political issues, from police racism in London to the closure of the Rover plant at Longbridge.

He also showed a talent for building bridges between the different sections of those diverse communities, even offering his home telephone number as a hot-line for tip-offs after the murder of two black girls in Birmingham.

He remains an advocate for traditional Christian values, but manages to seem in touch with an increasingly secular modern world.

And if anyone can preserve the integrity of the Anglican communion - keeping the conservative evangelicals of the global south on speaking terms with the liberals of the north, then Archbishop Sentamu, born in Africa but ordained in England, is that man.

CITATION

"He really leads by example - an inspiration to Christians and non-Christians alike - in his firm faith, strong opinions and dedication to making people aware of humanitarian issues which may otherwise not come into the political domain in the same forceful way. How many current politicians would shut themselves in York Minster and go on hunger strike for a cause they felt strongly about?" Pauline Sidey

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