Sarah Mullally was enthroned as the Church of England’s first female Archbishop of Canterbury yesterday, taking the helm as the spiritual leader of 85 million Anglicans worldwide in a historic ceremony blending tradition with global symbolism.
The former nurse took her seat on the 13th-century Chair of St Augustine at Canterbury Cathedral before 2,000 guests, including heir-to-the-throne Prince William and his wife Kate, Prime Minister Keir Starmer and religious leaders.
Delivering her first sermon as Archbishop, Mullally – wearing a golden mitre and led by an African choir of singing and dancing women for part of the service – prayed for ‘peace to prevail’ in war-ravaged parts of the world, from the Middle East and Ukraine to Sudan and Myanmar.
“As I begin my ministry today as Archbishop of Canterbury, I say again to God: ‘Here I am’,” she told the congregation.
Mullally, 63, acknowledged the sufferings caused by the Church’s past safeguarding failures, one of which caused her predecessor Justin Welby to resign, stressing the need to ‘remain committed to truth, compassion, justice and action’.
Before the ceremony, Bishop Philip Mounstephen, who would bless her as she was installed in the diocesan chair during the service, told Reuters that the arrival of a woman in an ‘ancient office ... older than the Crown’ was a historic occasion.
“It does signal a huge change that has taken place in the life of the Church,” Mounstephen said.
While Mullally’s appointment in October drew sharp criticism from a conservative grouping of Anglican churches in mostly African and Asian countries called Gafcon, the bloc this month abandoned earlier plans to name a parallel figurehead to Mullally, establishing a new council instead.
A representative body within the global Communion also scrapped a previous proposal for a rotating presidency following concerns about potential rivalry with the Archbishop of Canterbury.
At the start of the ceremony, she knocked on the cathedral’s west door, wearing a cope secured by a clasp modelled on the belt she wore as a National Health Service nurse. She was then greeted by children.
Mullally wore a ring given to one of her predecessors, Michael Ramsey, by Pope Paul VI in 1966, a symbol of improving ties between Anglicans and Catholics, centuries after King Henry VIII split from Rome.
Prayers and readings in multiple languages, including Urdu, rang through the cathedral during the service.
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