Woman becomes England’s top Archbishop

The previous head of the church resigned last November over a sex abuse scandal

The Church of England has appointed its first female Archbishop of Canterbury, ending 1,400 years of male leadership. Former top British nurse, Sarah Mullally, was installed as the confession’s highest-ranking clergy by a church synod on Friday.

Though female priests were first ordained in 1994, women were not permitted to take senior posts until 2014, a reform that followed years of internal schisms and debates within the Church.

Before entering the clergy, Mullally built a distinguished career in nursing, rising to become England’s Chief Nursing Officer. She was ordained as a priest in 2002, and went on to serve as as Bishop of Crediton and then Bishop of London, the Church’s third most senior post. Known for her inclusive stance, she has supported prayers and blessings for same-sex couples, framing her leadership around openness and pastoral care.

Her appointment follows the resignation of her predecessor Archbishop Justin Welby last November, after an inquiry found he failed to act on warnings about a pastor who had abused children for decades.

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England’s top Archbishop resigns over sex abuse scandal

The second-most senior bishop in the Church of England, Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell, who took on caretaker functions after Welby’s departure, has also come under fire after a BBC investigation found he had allowed a priest with a history of abuse allegations to remain in ministry. Though he remains in post.

Mullally’s promotion has already drawn resistance from conservative factions within the Anglican Communion, particularly in Africa, where leaders have long opposed women in top clerical roles and condemned the Church of England’s liberal stance on sexuality. GAFCON, a grouping of conservative Anglican churches, said the move showed the English church had “relinquished its authority to lead.”

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The Church of England is a Protestant denomination created in 1534, when King Henry VIII rejected the authority of the Roman Catholic Pope in a divorce dispute. Its titular head is the British monarch, while the Archbishop of Canterbury acts as its primate.