The former Archbishop of York John Habgood has died aged 91.
Incumbent Archbishop John Sentamu paid tribute to his predecessor's "towering presence” after he announced his death on Thursday.
Mr Habgood, who was Archbishop from 1983 to 1995, helped mediate tensions within the church after divisions emerged over making women priests.
After his retirement in 1995, he was made a life peer, but became one of the first to retire from the house under a new procedure in 2011.
Archbishop Sentamu added: “"His towering presence, physical, intellectual, and spiritual, was a gift to all who knew him.
“My prayers are with his family at this time. May he Rest in Peace, and rise in glory."
Mr Habgood was Bishop of Durham from 1973 to 1983, and was made a Privy Counsellor that year.
He was thought to be a favourite to become Archbishop of Canterbury, the Church’s most senior role, in 1990 but said he was “too old” and that it was an “enormously tiring” job.
