Sarah Elisabeth Mullally has formally become the 106th Archbishop of Canterbury, making history as the first woman to occupy the office in the nearly 1,500-year tradition of the Church of England.

The installation ceremony, held at Canterbury Cathedral, brought together a broad and diplomatic gathering. Among those in attendance were the UK Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, the Speaker of the House of Commons, Lindsay Hoyle, as well as the Prince and Princess of Wales, Prince William and Catherine, Princess of Wales.

Representatives from the Anglican Communion’s 42 member churches were also present, alongside delegates from the Vatican and the Orthodox Church, highlighting the global and ecumenical significance of the occasion.

The ceremony itself unfolded as a symbolic pilgrimage. It began with the formal proclamation, which was read aloud to grant Mullally entry into the cathedral, followed by a solemn procession accompanied by hymns. The procession advanced to the nave, where she took her oath on the Saint John’s Bible.

Proceedings then moved to the cathedral quire, where Mullally was formally installed on the Bishop’s Chair. She subsequently took her place on the historic Chair of St Augustine, located near the shrine of Thomas Becket a seat that has been central to the installation of archbishops for centuries.

In her first address, Achibishop Mullally reflected on her personal journey of faith, recalling her younger self as “a teenage Sarah who put her faith in God,” and acknowledging that she “could never have imagined the future that lay ahead, and certainly not the ministry to which I am now called.”

Addressing broader concerns, the Archbishop spoke candidly about the pain experienced by individuals harmed by the “actions or failures” within Christian communities.

“Every day, we hold victims and survivors in our hearts and in our prayers, and we must remain committed to truth, compassion, justice and action and a church for the whole nation and for the world, which looks for ways of joining with people of all faiths and none, in acts of service that will transform.”
Dame Sarah Mullally

Dame Sarah Mullally: From Nurse to Historic Archbishop of Canterbury

The Church of England has entered a historic new chapter with the enthronement of Dame Sarah Mullally as Archbishop of Canterbury, the first woman to hold the most senior position in the Anglican Communion.

Dame Sarah Mullally was born in Woking in 1962, Mullally grew up alongside two sisters and a brother and was educated at Winston Churchill Comprehensive School and Woking Sixth Form College. She became a Christian at the age of 16, a formative decision that would later shape both her vocation and leadership within the Church.

Before entering ordained ministry, Mullally built a distinguished career in healthcare. Educated at South Bank Polytechnic and Heythrop College, she went on to serve in the National Health Service, where she specialised in cancer care. Rising through the ranks, she became a ward sister at Westminster Hospital and later Director of Nursing at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital.

In 1999, at the age of 37, she was appointed Chief Nursing Officer for England at the Department of Health, becoming the youngest person to hold the role. Her impact on nursing and public health policy earned her a Damehood in 2005, in recognition of her outstanding service.

While serving at the highest levels of government, Mullally discerned a call to ordained ministry. She undertook theological training at the South East Institute for Theological Education and was ordained in 2001. Initially serving as a self-supporting minister at St Saviour’s Battersea Fields, she made the pivotal decision in 2004 to leave her government post and fully commit to her clerical vocation.

Her rise within the Church of England was steady and historic. In 2012, she was installed as Canon Treasurer at Salisbury Cathedral, and in 2015 became Suffragan Bishop of Crediton in the Diocese of Exeter among the early cohort of women to serve as bishops following the Church’s decision to open the episcopate to women. She was consecrated at Canterbury Cathedral alongside Rachel Treweek.

In 2018, Mullally was installed as the 133rd Bishop of London at St Paul’s Cathedral, becoming the first woman to hold one of the Church’s most senior diocesan roles.

Engraved on three stone slabs at Canterbury Cathedral is a list of all the archbishops of Canterbury, beginning with St. Augustine in A.D. 597. The first 105 names belong to men.