Woman is named Archbishop of Canterbury for first time in Church of England history

LONDON — A woman has been named to the post of Archbishop of Canterbury for the first time in the history of the Church of England.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced Friday that King Charles had approved the nomination of Sarah Mullally, bishop of London, for the church’s most senior position. She will be installed in a service at Canterbury Cathedral in March 2026.

Mullally is the first female Archbishop of Canterbury to be chosen since women were allowed to become bishops in 2014.

As the spiritual leader of the Church of England, the Archbishop of Canterbury heads a global Anglican community of around 85 million people across 165 countries.

In a statement following her appointment, Mullally said: “As I respond to the call of Christ to this new ministry, I do so in the same spirit of service to God and to others that has motivated me since I first came to faith as a teenager.”

“At every stage of that journey, through my nursing career and Christian ministry, I have learned to listen deeply — to people and to God’s gentle prompting — to seek to bring people together to find hope and healing.”

Mullally became the first female bishop of London in 2018, having first been ordained in 2001. Before joining the church, she had been a specialist cancer nurse, rising to become the government’s youngest chief nursing officer for England at the age of 37.

Mullally’s appointment comes 11 months after the previous archbishop, Justin Welby, resigned after a damning report into his handling of the case of a prolific child abuser associated with the church.

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She will become the 106th Archbishop of Canterbury since St. Augustine was sent by Pope Gregory to convert the English people to Roman Christianity in 597.

Starmer welcomed Mullally’s appointment, saying she would play “a key role in our national life.”

“The Church of England is of profound importance to this country. Its churches, cathedrals, schools, and charities are part of the fabric of our communities,” he said in a statement.

In an address following her appointment, Mullally said that “in the apparent chaos which surrounds us, in the midst of such profound global uncertainty, the possibility of healing lies in acts of kindness and love.”

She added that Thursday’s terrorist attack on a synagogue in Manchester showed that Church of England members “have a responsibility to be a people who stand with the Jewish community against antisemitism in all its forms. Hatred and racism of any kind cannot be allowed to tear us apart.”