King Charles III approves the nomination of the Bishop of London, the Rt Revd and Rt Hon Dame Sarah Mullally, as the next Archbishop of Canterbury.
By Vatican News
The Rt Revd and Rt Hon Dame Sarah Mullally will become the 106th Archbishop of Canterbury since Saint Augustine arrived in Kent from Rome in 597. She will be the first woman to hold the office. Her installation is scheduled to take place at Canterbury Cathedral in March 2026.
She replaces Archbishop Justin Welby, who resigned almost a year ago.
The announcement by the Church of England also stated that “Bishop Sarah has served as Bishop of London since 2018, becoming the first woman to hold that post. She previously served as Bishop of Crediton in the Diocese of Exeter. Before her ordination in 2001, she was the Government’s Chief Nursing Officer for England, appointed at the age of 37, the youngest person to serve in that role. Earlier in her career, she specialised as a cancer nurse. She has described nursing as “an opportunity to reflect the love of God.”
In a statement, it explained that the Crown Nominations Commission for Canterbury selected Bishop Sarah following a process of public consultation and prayerful discernment that began in February this year.
The Commission was composed of representatives from across the Church of England, the global Anglican Communion and the Diocese of Canterbury.
The election by the canons will take place in January, and the installation is scheduled for March.
The Commission, the statement added, selected Bishop Sarah following a process of public consultation and prayerful discernment that began in February this year. The Commission was composed of representatives from across the Church of England, the global Anglican Communion and the Diocese of Canterbury.
The Archbishop of Canterbury
The Archbishop of Canterbury is the most senior bishop in the Church of England. The ministry combines several roles: Diocesan Bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury, Primate of All England and Metropolitan, and primus inter pares (first among equals) among the Primates of the global Anglican Communion, which includes about 85 million members in 165 countries. In the House of Lords, the Archbishop of Canterbury is one of 26 bishops who comprise the Lords Spiritual.
In a statement, Bishop Sarah reflected on her new appointment, saying, “As I respond to the call of Christ to this new ministry, I do so in the same spirit of service to God and to others that has motivated me since I first came to faith as a teenager.”
She expressed her desire to “encourage the Church to continue to grow in confidence in the Gospel, to speak of the love that we find in Jesus Christ and for it to shape our actions,” and said she looks forward to “sharing this journey of faith with the millions of people serving God and their communities in parishes all over the country and across the global Anglican Communion.”
