Sarah Mullally named the first female Archbishop of Canterbury in history of Church of England

LONDON (AP) — Bishop of London Sarah Mullally shattered a stained-glass ceiling Friday when she was announced as the next Archbishop of Canterbury, the first time a woman has been chosen as the Church of England’s spiritual leader.

Mullally, 63, a former cancer nurse who became England’s youngest chief nursing officer before joining the clergy, faces serious challenges in the church that include divisions over the treatment of women and LGBTQ people. She will also have to confront concerns that church leaders haven’t done enough to stamp out the sexual abuse scandals that have dogged the church for more than a decade.

The choice of Mullally as Archbishop of Canterbury-designate marks a major milestone for a church that ordained its first female priests in 1994 and its first female bishop in 2015. She follows 105 men who have held the role since St. Augustine became the first Archbishop of Canterbury in the year 597.

“There was a time where female priests — the idea of that — seemed absurd,” said George Gross, an expert on monarchy and modern religious thought at King’s College London. “But we’ve moved a long way from that. And if you can have a female prime minister, you have a female monarch, it seems, why can’t you have the female archbishop of Canterbury?”

Mullally 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,” said Andrew Graystone, an advocate for church abuse survivors. “But the biggest challenge for the new archbishop is to restore trust after a decade of abuse scandals.”

Mullally sees hope despite uncertain times

Mullally addressed congregants for the first time in her new role from a lectern in Canterbury Cathedral where she opened with a prayer and spoke of the hope she saw despite uncertain times globally and struggles within the church, referring to the “legacy of deep harm and mistrust” for failing to protect church members from abuse.

She said her first calling is to follow Christ and spread his message. But she also addressed some of the key issues facing the nation, including migration that has created political divisions, debate over a bill in Parliament to legalize assisted dying, which she opposes, and she mentioned the “horrific violence” of Thursday’s synagogue attack in Manchester on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish year.

“We are witnessing hatred that rises up through fractures across our communities,” Mullally said. “I know that the God who is with us draws near to those who suffer. We then, as a church, 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.”

The Archbishop of Canterbury is first among equals

The Anglican Communion has more than 85 million members spread across 165 countries, including the Episcopal Church in the United States. While each national church has its own leader, the Archbishop of Canterbury is considered first among equals.

Mullally noted that it was a historic moment for the church and a joyous one personally and for many — an acknowledgement of the divides that exist within the Anglican Communion and the fact that her nomination would not be well received in some circles.

She thanked the women who had come before her and said she intends to be a shepherd in the church to enable the ministry and vocation of others to flourish.

“I will not always get things right,” she said. “But I’m encouraged by the psalmist who tells us that, ‘Though you stumble you shall not fall headlong, for the Lord holds you fast by your hand.’ I trust in the truth of those words for me, for you, for the Church of England, for the nation.”

The Global Anglican Future Conference — known as Gafcon — that includes the archbishops of Nigeria, Rwanda and Uganda and has been critical of the church’s blessing of same-sex marriage said the appointment was sorrowful and would further split the church because it said she “promoted unbiblical and revisionist teachings regarding marriage and sexual morality.”

“Though there are some who will welcome the decision to appoint Bishop Mullally as the first female Archbishop of Canterbury, the majority of the Anglican Communion still believes that the Bible requires a male-only episcopacy,” the Rev. Laurent Mbanda said in a statement for the group. “Therefore, her appointment will make it impossible for the Archbishop of Canterbury to serve as a focus of unity within the Communion.”

Vatican and king welcome Mullally’s appointment

The Vatican congratulated Mullally and wished her well as she addresses “considerable” challenges she faces.

“I pray that the Lord will bless you with all the gifts you need for the very demanding ministry to which you have now been called, equipping you to be an instrument of communion and unity for the faithful among whom you will serve,” said Cardinal Kurt Koch, prefect of the Vatican office for relations with other Christians.

The Catholic and Anglican churches split in 1534 after English King Henry VIII was refused a marriage annulment. A half-millennium later, the two churches have engaged in official theological dialogue for decades but remain divided on a host of issues, including over female bishops and LGBTQ+ people.

Mullally will officially become Archbishop of Canterbury at a ceremony in Canterbury Cathedral in January and will later be enthroned in a formal ceremony likely to include members of the royal family.

King Charles III, who approved her nomination, congratulated Mullally and noted the importance of her role that will have ramifications around the world.

The process to pick Mullally by a committee of some 20 people chaired by the former director-general of MI5, Britain’s domestic spy agency, took nearly a year.

It was not a transparent of processes and there was no published shortlist of candidates, nor an open vote. It was more a slow process of sounding out various interest groups to figure out which of the current bishops might be able to lead the church forward.

There was anticipation a female leader could be chosen for the first time, though Mullally was not among those considered front-runners.

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Associated Press writer Nicole Winfield contributed from Rome.