LONDON, Oct. 5 (UPI) -- The Rev. John Sentamu, who moved to Britain from Uganda in 1974, has become the Church of England's first black archbishop.
Sentamu will be archbishop of York, the second highest post in the Church of England.
The confirmation service Wednesday was led by the Archbishop of Canterbury and six senior bishops at a ceremony at London's St. Mary-le-Bow, reports the BBC.
Although legally an archbishop, Sentamu will not take up his work until his enthronement Nov. 30 in York.
His appointment has been hailed as imaginative, and even courageous, the report said.
Earlier this year Sentamu expressed his hope of banishing homophobia from the Church of England.
He said: "Every human being regardless of their sexual orientation are standing in for God, each one of them is actually loved of God."
The 56-year-old was educated in Uganda, where he practiced as a barrister and was an outspoken critic of Idi Amin's regime, before being deported.
