Sarah Mullally is confirmed as archbishop and officially becomes the first woman to lead the Church of England

Sarah Mullally before her election confirmation ceremony, which formalizes her name as the new Archbishop of Canterbury. Gareth Fuller/Pool via AP Sarah Mullally was confirmed this Wednesday (28) as Archbishop of Canterbury, becoming the first woman to lead the Church of England. The worldwide Anglican Communion, which includes the Episcopal Church in the United States, has no formal head, but the Archbishop of Canterbury is traditionally seen as its spiritual leader. Mullally, 63, an oncology nurse turned clergyman, officially assumed the responsibilities of the new role after judges presided over a legal ceremony confirming her appointment, announced nearly four months ago. The so-called Confirmation of Election service marks an important moment for the Church of England, which ordained its first female priests in 1994 and its first female bishop in 2015. The church has its origins in the 16th century, when the Church of England split from the Roman Catholic Church during the reign of King Henry VIII. See the videos that are trending on g1 George Gross, an expert in theology and monarchy at King’s College London, highlighted the Church of England’s continued distancing from the Catholic Church, which prohibits the ordination of women as priests, much less holding the global spiritual leadership of the religion. “It’s a big contrast,” Gross said. “And in terms of women’s position in society, that’s a big statement.” Divisions within the Church But Mullally’s appointment could deepen divisions within the Anglican Communion, whose 100 million members in 165 countries are deeply divided over issues such as the role of women and the treatment of LGBTQ+ people. She will also have to face concerns that the Church of England has not done enough to stamp out the sexual abuse scandals that have dogged it for more than a decade. Gafcon, a global organization of conservative Anglicans, says Mullally’s appointment is divisive because the majority of the Anglican Communion still believes only men should be bishops. Rwanda’s Archbishop Laurent Mbanda, chairman of Gafcon’s council of senior bishops, known as primates, also criticized Mullally’s support for the blessing of same-sex marriages. “Because the newly appointed Archbishop of Canterbury has failed to keep the faith and is complicit in the introduction of practices and beliefs that violate both the ‘clear and canonical sense’ of Scripture and the ‘historical and consensual interpretation of the Church,’ she cannot offer leadership to the Anglican Communion,” Mbanda said in October. Mullally replaces former Archbishop Justin Welby, who announced his resignation in November 2024 after being criticized for failing to report to police allegations of physical and sexual abuse by a volunteer at a church-linked summer camp. She was nominated by a 17-member committee made up of clergy and laypeople, and her appointment was confirmed by King Charles III, the church’s supreme governor. But there is still one more step left in the long process of naming the new archbishop. On March 25 at Canterbury Cathedral, Mullally will be formally installed as Bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury in a ceremony marking the official start of her new role. After that, his public ministry begins.

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