First woman appointed archbishop of Canterbury

Sarah Mullally has been appointed the new archbishop of Canterbury, the first time a woman has been named leader of the Church of England in the 1400-year history of the role.

Mullally also becomes the ceremonial head of some 85 million Anglicans worldwide, with the appointment of a woman risking deeper theological divides with some of the more conservative branches of the church in African nations.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer welcomed the appointment of Mullally to the role and wished her success.

“The Church of England is of profound importance to this country,” Starmer said. “Its churches, cathedrals, schools, and charities are part of the fabric of our communities. The archbishop of Canterbury will play a key role in our national life.”

She will replace former archbishop Justin Welby, who announced his resignation in November after an independent investigation found he failed to tell police about serial physical and sexual abuse by a volunteer at Christian summer camps as soon as he became aware of it.

“The new archbishop will be faced with declining church attendance, bloated management structures and clergy squabbling over what people do in the bedroom,” Andrew Graystone, an advocate for church abuse survivors, told Britain’s Press Association.

“But the biggest challenge for the new archbishop is to restore trust after a decade of abuse scandals.”

Reforms introduced 11 years ago made it possible for a woman to hold the office, and by being named as the 106th Archbishop of Canterbury, Mullally becomes the female leader of one of last areas of British public life to have been led by men.

But for Anglicans globally, about two-thirds of whom live in countries such as Nigeria, Kenya and Uganda, the appointment of the first female archbishop could further highlight their difference with the mother church in England.

Mullally, 63, is a former nurse who worked as England’s chief nursing officer in the early 2000s. She has advocated for creating an open and transparent culture which allows for difference and disagreement.

“There are great commonalities between nursing and being a priest. It’s all about people, and sitting with people during the most difficult times in their lives,” she once told a magazine.

Reflecting the Church of England’s status as England’s established church, Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s office announced the decision with the formal consent of King Charles.

As monarch, Charles is the supreme governor of the Church of England, a role established in the 16th century when King Henry VIII broke from the Catholic Church.

The process for Mullally was an 11-month marathon presided over by a committee of some 20 people chaired by the former director-general of MI5, Britain’s domestic spy agency.

“At least on the last few occasions, a new pope has been selected at great speed, but to select the archbishop of Canterbury, which is not exactly equivalent but what many might see as a relatively equivalent position, it takes months,” said George Gross, an expert on monarchy and modern religious thought at King’s College London.

– Reuters, AP

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