William Temple was born on 15 October 1881 in Exeter, England. An influential figure in the Anglican church, President Roosevelt described Temple ‘as an ardent advocate of international cooperation based on Christian principles [who] exerted a profound influence throughout the world’. Fellow of Queen’s College, Oxford for six years, Temple became Headmaster of Repton School in 1910, Rector of St James’s, London in 1914, and Canon of Westminster in 1919. The following year, he was offered the diocese of Manchester, followed by the archbishopric of York in 1929. In April 1942, he was enthroned in Canterbury Cathedral.
Involved with the first World Conference on Faith and Order, he also attended the International Missionary Council’s conference in Jerusalem in 1928. He was Secretary of the National Mission of Repentance and Hope and the youngest member of the Archbishop’s Commission on Church and State. Important works include Christianity in Thought and Practice (1936), Readings in St. John’s Gospel (1939), The Hope of a New World (1941), Christianity and Social Order (1942), The Church Looks Forward (1944), and Christus Veritas (1962).
