The Yorkshire Post says: A gift to all as tributes paid to the Archbishop of York who restored our Minster
THE HIGH esteem in which John Habgood was held is reflected by the generous tribute that Dr John Sentamu, the current Archbishop of York, has made to a predecessor who was revered and respected in equal measure.
“His towering presence, physical, intellectual, and spiritual, was a gift to all who knew him,” said the Archbishop as the Church remembered a theologian, and scientist, regarded by many as “the outstanding churchman of his generation”.
Yet, while his tenureship of York from 1983 to 1995 coincided with emerging divisions in the Church about the ordination of women, he was the Archbishop who had responsibility for the restoration of York Minster after it was struck by lightning less than a year after his enthronement.
That this was completed to such a high standard of craftsmanship, in keeping with York’s history and heritage, is a fitting tribute to Dr Habgood and his devotion to duty.