He leads an international fellowship of 77 million Anglicans but doesn’t like to travel first class.
His official residence is a grand palace in London, but he and his family live in small rooms furnished like any other middle-class British home.
He is the successor of Saints Augustine and Thomas Becket but counts himself a fan of “The Simpsons.”
With his bushy beard and black berets, Rowan Williams might more closely resemble the headmaster at Harry Potter’s Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry than previous archbishops of Canterbury. But the Welshman is considered one of the most important — and powerful — thinkers in Christianity today.
“Without a doubt, he is one of the most theologically astute archbishops of Canterbury that there has ever been,” said the Rev. John L. Peterson, who, as former secretary general of the Anglican Communion, worked closely with Williams.