London — Sarah Mullally, whose calling to Christian ministry came after a distinguished career in nursing, will be the new Archbishop of Canterbury, becoming the first woman to hold the role in its 1,400-year history and the spiritual leader of 85 million Anglicans worldwide.
Mullally, 63, was made Bishop of London in 2018 – the Church of England’s third most senior bishop after the archbishops of Canterbury and York. Before her ordination, Mullally worked as a nurse at hospitals in London, going on to serve as Chief Nursing Officer for England.
“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,” Mullally said after her appointment was announced on Friday.
“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 will preside over an institution struggling to stay relevant in a more secular nation, attempting to bridge divides between its more conservative and liberal wings, and fighting to reclaim trust after a child abuse cover-up scandal.
Justin Welby, the former archbishop, resigned last year over his failure to report John Smyth, who was accused of physically and sexually abusing dozens of boys, including those he met at Christian camps, in the 1970s and 1980s.
A damning independent report found that by 2013 the Church of England “knew, at the highest level,” about Smyth’s abuse, including Welby, who became archbishop that year.
Welby’s resignation, according to church historian Diarmaid MacCulloch, was “historic and without exact precedent in the 1,427-year history of Archbishops of Canterbury” given no previous archbishop had stepped down to accusations of negligence over sexual abuse.
“Our history of safeguarding failures has left the legacy of deep harm and mistrust,” Mullally said Friday. “As archbishop, my commitment will be to ensure that we continue to listen to survivors, care for the vulnerable and foster a culture of safety and wellbeing for all.”
Mullally’s elevation was only possible due to reforms under Welby, who allowed women to be consecrated as bishops a decade ago. But while the vastly experienced Mullally is viewed by church insiders as a safe pair of hands in testing times, the appointment of a woman has rankled the more conservative factions of the Anglican church.
“Today’s appointment makes it clearer than ever before that Canterbury has relinquished its authority to lead,” said GAFCON, a grouping of Anglican churches across Africa and Asia, regions where congregations have grown in recent years.
As Christianity spread during the period of the British Empire, the vast bulk of Anglicans – around three out of four – live not in Britain but in its onetime colonies. Analysts say this has pulled the faith’s center of gravity toward the more conservative global south, deepening divides with the West’s more liberal outlook.
The Vatican offered muted congratulations to Mullally on her appointment. Cardinal Kurt Koch, who leads its department for promoting Christian Unity, said the Anglican and Catholic churches “have grown greatly in mutual understanding and affection,” despite “occasional tensions” between them.
The most acute of those is the role of women in the two churches. Women are barred from ordination in the Catholic Church, and the disagreement has obstructed attempts to bring the churches together.
The Archbishop of Canterbury is the most public face of an institution that has struggled to stay relevant in a more secular nation. The archbishop is often called on to speak at significant national moments, presiding over major royal events, including the recent coronation of King Charles.
For years, Mullally led the Church of England’s process of exploring questions of marriage and sexuality, and is supportive of a move to allow ministers to offer blessings to gay couples in churches. She is known as a strong administrator who has worked to modernize the running of her London diocese while playing a leading role in the church’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
In her new role, Mullally will lead efforts to address declining church attendance, including reaching younger people, and to confront financial challenges.
Candidates for the Archbishop of Canterbury are chosen by the Crown Nominations Commission, a body chaired by Jonathan Evans, the former head of MI5, Britain’s domestic security service. The commission, comprising 17 voting members, selects a preferred candidate, whom the Prime Minister then approves.
It is, however, King Charles, the Supreme Governor of the Church of England, who formally makes the appointment. The British monarch’s role dates to when King Henry VIII broke away from the authority of the pope and declared himself head of the new church. King Charles congratulated Mullally on her appointment.
In July, Evans had said he wanted to avoid a list of candidates “all of whom are white, Oxbridge, male and come from the southeast of England.” He said there was “a desire for somebody who can give genuine spiritual leadership and direction to the church,” and who can “speak authoritatively and graciously with a Christian voice into the affairs of the nation.”
Announcing Mullally’s appointment, Evans thanked the members of the public who shared their views on the direction of the church in a public consultation earlier this year. “I shall be praying for Bishop Sarah as she prepares to take up this new ministry in the coming months,” he said.
Mullally will be installed officially in a service at Canterbury Cathedral in March, becoming the 106th archbishop since Saint Augustine arrived in Kent from Rome in 597.
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