Church in Wales

The Church in Wales (Yr Eglwys yng Nghymru) is an Anglican church in Wales, composed of six dioceses. The Archbishop of Wales does not have a fixed archiepiscopal see, but serves concurrently as one of the six diocesan bishops. The position is currently held by Andy John, Bishop of Bangor, since 2021. Unlike the Church of England, the Church in Wales is not an established church. Disestablishment took place in 1920 under the Welsh Church Act 1914. As a province of the Anglican Communion, the Church in Wales recognises the Archbishop of Canterbury as a focus of unity but without any formal authority. A cleric of the Church in Wales can be appointed to posts in the Church of England, including the See of Canterbury; a former Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, was from Wales and served as Archbishop of Wales before his appointment to Canterbury. The Church in Wales (Yr Eglwys yng Nghymru) adopted its name by accident. The Welsh Church Act 1914 referred throughout to "the Church in Wales", the phrase being used to indicate the part of the Church of England within Wales. At a convention (of the Welsh Church) held in Cardiff in October 1917, Mr Justice Sankey said that, while the name "the Church of Wales" appealed to him, he advised that there were good legal reasons why the name "the Church in Wales" should be adopted, at least at first, in order to follow the wording in the act. The matter was therefore left at that convention for the second Governing Body to decide at its first session. Culture of Gwynedd during the High Middle Ages#Celtic Christian traditionsCeltic Christian traditions in Gwynedd Christianity in Wales can be traced back to the Romano-British culture and an organised episcopal church has had continuous existence in Wales since that time. The age of the saints in the 6th and 7th centuries was marked by the establishment of monastic settlements throughout the country, by religious leaders such as Saint David, Illtud, Padarn and Saint Teilo.