UK names Sarah Mullally as first feminine Archbishop to guide Church of England

Britain appointed Sarah Mullally as the brand new Archbishop of Canterbury on Friday (October 3, 2025), the primary time a lady has been named chief of the Church of England within the 1,400 12 months historical past of the position.

Archbishop Mullally additionally turns into the ceromonial head of some 85 million Anglicans worldwide, with the appointment of a lady risking deeper theological divides with a number of the extra conservative branches of the church in African nations.

Reforms launched 11 years in the past made it doable for a lady to carry the workplace, and by being named because the 106th Archbishop of Canterbury, Mullally turns into the feminine chief of one in all final areas of British public life to have been led by males.

But for Anglicans globally, about two-thirds of whom dwell in nations like Nigeria, Kenya and Uganda, the appointment of the primary feminine Archbishop might additional spotlight their distinction with the mom church in England.

Mullally, 63, is a former nurse who labored as England’s Chief Nursing Officer within the early 2000s. She has advocated for creating an open and clear tradition in church buildings which permits for distinction and disagreement.

“There are great commonalities between nursing and being a priest. It’s all about people, and sitting with people during the most difficult times in their lives,” she as soon as advised {a magazine}.

Reflecting the Church of England’s standing as England’s established church, Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s workplace introduced the choice with the formal consent of King Charles.

As monarch, Charles is the supreme governor of the Church of England, a task established within the sixteenth century when King Henry VIII broke from the Catholic Church.

The Church of England has been and not using a chief since final November when Justin Welby resigned over a toddler abuse cover-up scandal.