Former Archbishop of York John Habgood dies aged 91

File photo dated 27/07/95 of the former Archbishop of York John Habgood who has died aged 91
Neil Munns/PA Wire
Megan White7 March 2019

The former Archbishop of York John Habgood has died aged 91.

Incumbent Archbishop John Sentamu paid tribute to his predecessor's "towering presence” after he announced his death on Thursday.

Mr Habgood, who was Archbishop from 1983 to 1995, helped mediate tensions within the church after divisions emerged over making women priests.

After his retirement in 1995, he was made a life peer, but became one of the first to retire from the house under a new procedure in 2011.

Queen Elizabeth II inside York Minster with the Archbishop of York Dr John Habgood (right)
PA

Archbishop Sentamu added: “"His towering presence, physical, intellectual, and spiritual, was a gift to all who knew him.

“My prayers are with his family at this time. May he Rest in Peace, and rise in glory."

Mr Habgood was Bishop of Durham from 1973 to 1983, and was made a Privy Counsellor that year.

He was thought to be a favourite to become Archbishop of Canterbury, the Church’s most senior role, in 1990 but said he was “too old” and that it was an “enormously tiring” job.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in