British monarch, King Charles III, has approved the appointment of Dame Sarah Mullally, becoming the first female Archbishop of Canterbury and will assume the role in January.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has welcomed the decision, saying, “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.
“The Archbishop of Canterbury will play a key role in our national life. I wish her every success and look forward to working together.”
The hair of the Crown Nominations Commission for Canterbury, Lord Evans of Weardale, added, “I will be praying for Bishop Sarah as she prepares to take up this new ministry in the coming months.”
Dame Sarah who previously held the position of Chief Nursing Officer for England is the youngest person to hold that post.
She later trained for ministry at the South East Institute of Theological Education and studied at South Bank University and Heythrop College. She currently serves as Bishop of London.
Ordained in 2001, she left her government nursing role in 2004 to pursue full-time ministry in the London borough of Sutton. In 2005, she was made a Dame in recognition of her significant contributions to nursing and midwifery.
When she became Bishop of London in 2017, she reflected on her dual careers, saying, “I prefer to think that I have always had one vocation: to follow Jesus Christ, to know him and to make him known, always seeking to live with compassion in the service of others, whether as a nurse, a priest, or a bishop.”
Her appointment as Bishop of London had already been seen as a sign of progress in the Church’s attitudes toward women in leadership, following Libby Lane’s historic consecration as the first female bishop in 2015.
As a bishop, Dame Sarah is viewed by many as a safe pair of hands, given her administrative experience and reputation for steady leadership.
She is considered relatively progressive on the issue of same-sex blessings within the Church. In 2023, after a vote approving such blessings, she described the outcome as “a moment of hope for the Church,” while acknowledging that differences in opinion remain.
On her own role, she has said she “would have the conversation (with a couple), and there are certainly prayers within that suite (of prayers) that I would use.”
Her appointment followed nearly a year of vacancy since Justin Welby announced his resignation amid criticism over the Church’s safeguarding failures.
The Makin review had implicated Welby in failing to alert authorities in 2013 regarding alleged abuses by John Smyth. Welby has since accepted personal and institutional responsibility for those failures and expressed a “profound sense of shame” over the harm caused to survivors.
As Archbishop of Canterbury, Dame Sarah will automatically receive a seat in the House of Lords—a role she has already held since 2018 as a senior bishop.
Her formal confirmation, known as the confirmation of election, will take place in January in a service at St Paul’s Cathedral. During this service, she will legally become the Archbishop of Canterbury.
