Dame Sarah Mullally Appointed as Pioneering Female Archbishop of Canterbury
The Church of England has selected Sarah Mullally as the inaugural woman leader of the Church of England, with official sources revealing the new spiritual leader of Canterbury nearly a year after Justin Welby’s resignation over the handling of a safeguarding scandal.
This is the initial occasion an archbishop of Canterbury has been selected since the Church of England opened the episcopate to women in 2014.
The archbishop is regarded as the faith guide of the Anglican church globally and also possesses a position in the upper parliamentary chamber.
The Stephen Cottrell, the archbishop of York handled key tasks temporarily, and was among the decision-makers of the committee tasked with appointing the next archbishop.
The selection body had to approve the selection by a two-thirds consensus. Once decided, as per protocol, the procedure includes submitting a name to the prime minister – in this case Keir Starmer and then submitted to the sovereign.
Mullally will not legally take on the role until a confirmation of election in January, with an induction rite taking place later, after allegiance is sworn to the sovereign.
