New Archbishop of Canterbury

The Bishop of London, Sarah Mullally, is to be the next Archbishop of Canterbury.

The nomination was agreed by at least a two-thirds majority of the 17 voting members of the Canterbury Crown Nominations Commission (CNC), who held their final meeting last week.

She will be the 106th archbishop and is the first woman to be elected to the post.

Bishop Mullally, who is 63, succeeds the Rt Revd Justin Welby, who resigned in November after the publication of the Makin report on the Church’s handling of the abuse perpetrated by John Smyth (News, 15 November 2024). The CNC convened six months later, at the end of May.

The Archbishop of Wales, Cherry Vann, welcomed the appointment, saying: "I am delighted that the Crown Nominations Commission has had the vision to appoint a woman to this significant role. Bishop Sarah has shown herself to be a woman of integrity, courage, and compassion, and brings enormous experience to this new ministry.

I know that all members of the Church in Wales will hold Bishop Sarah and her family in their prayers as she undertakes this huge responsibility. We pray that God will bless, equip and strengthen her for the task ahead."

Before ordination, Bishop Mullally trained and worked as a nurse, becoming a senior civil servant in the Department of Health. She was the youngest ever Chief Nursing Officer, holding that appointment from 1999 to 2004. She was ordained in 2001, and served as a self-supporting minister until 2006 in Battersea, south London.

A Confirmation of Election will be held in January, when the Archbishop-elect legally becomes the Archbishop of Canterbury. After this, she will pay homage to the King before being installed in the Chair of St Augustine at Canterbury Cathedral.