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Bishop of London
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| Province | Canterbury |
|---|---|
| Diocese | London |
| Founded | 4th century, but current establishment from 604 |
| Cathedral | St Paul's Cathedral |
| Present bishop | Richard Chartres |
| Signature | Londin |
The Bishop of London is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of London in the Province of Canterbury.
The diocese covers 458 km² (177 sq. mi.) of 17 boroughs of Greater London north of the River Thames (previously the County of Middlesex) and a small part of the County of Surrey. The see is in the City of London where the seat is located at the Cathedral Church of Saint Paul which was founded as a cathedral in 604 and was rebuilt from 1675 following the Great Fire of London (1666).
The Bishop's residence is The Old Deanery, Dean's Court, London. Previously, for over a thousand years Fulham Palace was the residence, although, from the eighteenth century, London House, next to the Bishop's Chapel in Aldersgate Street, was where he had his chambers, and was used as a more convenient place for the Bishop to conduct his affairs.
Third in seniority in the Church of England after the Archbishops of Canterbury and York, the Bishop is one of five senior bishops, alongside the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Archbishop of York, the Bishop of Durham, and the Bishop of Winchester, who sit as of right as one of the 26 Lords Spiritual in the House of Lords (as opposed to the remaining diocesan bishops of lesser rank, for whom elevation to one of the seats reserved is attained upon its vacancy and is determined by chronological seniority).
The current Bishop of London is the Right Reverend and Right Honourable Richard John Carew Chartres, the 132nd Lord Bishop of London, who was installed on 26 January 1996 and who signs Richard Londin.
- See also: List of bishops of London
Because the Bishop's diocese includes the Royal palaces and the seat of government at Westminster, he has been regarded as the 'King's bishop' and has historically had considerable influence with members of the Royal Family and leading politicians of the day. Since 1748 it has been customary to appoint the Bishop of London to the post of Dean of the Chapel Royal, which has the amusing effect of putting under the bishop's jurisdiction as dean several chapels (at the Tower of London and St. James's Palace, among others) which are geographically in the Diocese of London but as royal peculiars are specifically outside the bishop's jurisdiction as bishop.
The recorded antiquity of the office dates back to the Roman province of Britannia. where sixteen named archbishops are listed by Jocelyne of Furness in his work Bishops. Stowe noted that this was the sole available source of these names. However, the earlier of the two bishops named Restitutus in the work was alive in 314, the year which he was named as attending the Council of Arles. The Saxon bishopric of which the present diocese is the direct successor was established in 604 by Mellitus, the same year as St Paul's Cathedral (and also the Diocese of Rochester) were founded.
