Sarah Mullally waves as she leaves after the Enthronement Ceremony putting in her as archbishop of Canterbury in Canterbury, England on Wednesday, March 25, 2026. She is the primary lady ever to steer the Church of England.
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Alastair Grant/AP
CANTERBURY – In a ceremony that has been going down for greater than 1,400 years, the Church of England has put in its new chief, the archbishop of Canterbury.
For the primary time in historical past, the brand new archbishop is a lady, Sarah Mullally. She turns into the 106th particular person to carry the job.
The 90-minute ceremony started with Mullally knocking thrice on the west door of Canterbury Cathedral, earlier than being let in by native schoolchildren. It was attended by the Prince and Princess of Wales, and Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
In her sermon, Mullally alluded to her function as the primary feminine archbishop, saying: “As I look back over my life … I could never have imagined the future that lay ahead, and certainly not the ministry to which I am now called.”
Mullally was appointed to the function final October. Within the week earlier than the set up, she walked 87 miles east from London to Canterbury, a journey immortalized in Geoffrey Chaucer’s English literature basic, The Canterbury Tales.
It is a historic second as a result of the Church of England has solely allowed girls to grow to be monks since 1994 and bishops since 2014.
In addition to changing into the pinnacle of the Church of England, Mullally is the religious chief of the Anglican Communion, which incorporates tens of thousands and thousands of Anglicans world wide. The set up ceremony nodded to the function’s world attain, with sections in languages, which included Spanish, Swahili and Urdu.
The Archbishop of Canterbury Sarah Mullally is greeted by native college youngsters in the course of the Enthronement Ceremony putting in her because the 106th archbishop of Canterbury, at Canterbury Cathedral in England on Wednesday March 25, 2026.
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Mullally’s appointment has not been with out controversy: one of many church’s offshoots, the International Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans, has expressed its opposition.
Nonetheless, Stephen Cottrell, the archbishop of York – the second most senior bishop within the Church of England – informed NPR that the event marking Mullally’s set up because the archbishop of Canterbury was a joyful one.
“I don’t underestimate the challenge this is for some people in the Anglican Communion, but equally I don’t think we should overplay that,” Cottrell mentioned.
“I think the world is rejoicing today at what’s happening.”
Reverend Emily Onyango, assistant bishop of the Diocese of Bondo, was the primary lady ordained as a bishop within the Anglican Church of Kenya. She informed NPR that management roles within the church might be tougher for ladies.
“Most people have never seen a woman church leader … people set such a high bar,” Onyango mentioned. “Everybody thinks that you should be twice as good as the other bishops to be recognized so I think it is quite challenging.”
Onyango was visiting the U.Okay. alongside fellow bishop, Vicentia Kgabe, the bishop of Pretoria. They’re each members of what is referred to as the “Africa six.” 5 members of the group of feminine Anglican bishops traveled to Canterbury for the ceremony.
“Some of us never thought in our lifetime, nor in the life of the church, we’d have a woman being elected and her saying yes to the appointment,” Kgabe mentioned. “That is a historic moment.”
“We are very excited and grateful to God that this has happened,” Onyango added. “We feel affirmed, you know, by one of us being at the top of the church.”
The Prince and Princess of Wales look on in the course of the Enthronement Ceremony putting in Sarah Mullally because the 106th Archbishop of Canterbury, at Canterbury Cathedral in England on Wednesday March 25, 2026.
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Main as much as the ceremony, the Church of England has been in one thing of a disaster. The final archbishop, Justin Welby resigned in shame in November 2024 after he was severely criticized over the way in which he dealt with a sexual abuse scandal within the church.
Madeleine Davies is a senior journalist for Church Instances, who has met Mullally on a number of events. She informed NPR Mullally’s expertise as a senior nurse after which as Britain’s chief nursing officer, ought to assist her within the job. “She always seems very calm, in control, self-contained,” Davies mentioned. “She’s got quite a peaceable presence, and I think that will be reassuring to people.”
Davies says that some folks have criticized Mullally as “managerial,” however suggests that is prone to be a helpful character trait in her work. Mullally’s duties contain serving to to wash up the church’s picture, tackling falling congregation numbers, and taking care of a whole lot of cash-strapped church buildings throughout the UK.
“This is not only a centuries-old office, it’s a millennia-old office,” the bishop of Winchester, Philip Mounstephen, informed NPR, explaining that Mullally has grow to be the chief of one of many world’s oldest establishments. “The office of Archbishop of Canterbury is older than the Crown of England,” Mounstephen mentioned.
The Primates of the Anglican Communion arrive forward of the Enthronement Ceremony putting in Sarah Mullally because the 106th archbishop of Canterbury, at Canterbury Cathedral, England, Wednesday March 25, 2026.
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For practically a thousand years, the Church of England was aligned with the Catholic Church, till King Henry VIII broke communion with Rome with a purpose to break up and marry Anne Boleyn. At earlier intervals of historical past, the function used to contain giving political recommendation to the monarch. A number of archbishops had been killed over time, notably Thomas Becket and Thomas Cranmer.
Whereas right this moment’s archbishops of Canterbury are much less influential than previously, they do have a seat in Parliament’s Home of Lords, and infrequently give ethical management via statements to the media.
