The Church of England has named Sarah Mullally the next archbishop of Canterbury, the first woman to be nominated to lead the institution in its almost 500-year history. The role serves as the spiritual head of 85 million Anglicans worldwide.
Mullally, 63, was previously the bishop of London, a role she has performed since 2018. Before being ordained, she was chief nursing officer for England having specialized as a cancer nurse, a British government statement said on Friday.
She was educated at London South Bank University and trained for ministry at the South East Institute of Theological Education.
Photo: EPA
The Church of England traces its origins to when King Henry VIII broke from Rome and declared himself supreme head of the Church of England. There have been 105 previous archbishops of Canterbury — but none of them women.
The position had been empty for almost a year after Justin Welby resigned following a report that found he had not taken enough action against one of the church’s most prolific abusers, John Smyth.
Mullally would not formally take on the role until a confirmation takes place in January, and she would be installed in a service at Canterbury Cathedral two months later. Her previous actions send a signal as to how she might seek to use her position; in 2023, she referred to the Church of England’s decision to give permission for priests to bless same-sex couples as “a moment of hope for the church.”
In a statement, Mullally said: “I look forward to sharing this journey of faith with the millions of people serving God and their communities in parishes all over the country and across the global Anglican Communion.”
Speaking in Canterbury in her first address to the nation, she referenced the deadly terrorist attack outside a synagogue in Manchester on Thursday.
“Hatred and racism of any kind cannot be allowed to tear us apart,” she said.
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