Cancer nurse turned archbishop celebrates election as first woman to lead Church of England

he Archbishop of Canterbury Dame Sarah Mullally poses for a photo after an 87-mile pilgrimage from London to Canterbury Cathedral, in Canterbury, England, Sunday, March 22, 2026. (Gareth Fuller/PA via AP) 2026-03-25T05:21:55Z LONDON (AP) — A former cancer nurse who became a priest at the age of 40 will be installed as archbishop of Canterbury on Wednesday, publicly celebrating her election as the first woman to lead the Church of England.

Although Sarah Mullally, 63, formally became the archbishop of Canterbury in January, Wednesday’s event marks the beginning of her public ministry as both the head of the Church of England and spiritual leader of the worldwide Anglican Communion.

The communion is an association of independent churches, including the Episcopal Church in the U.S., that together have more than 100 million members. “I intend to be a shepherd who enables everyone’s ministry and vocation to flourish, whatever our tradition,’’ Mullally said when named last year. “Today I give thanks for all the women and men … who have paved the way for this moment.

And to all the women that have gone before me, thank you for your support and your inspiration.” The ceremony will be attended by Prince William, Princess Catherine, U.K.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer and representatives from many of the communion’s 42 member churches.

Representatives from the Vatican and the Orthodox church will also attend.

In a nod to Mullally’s historic appointment, the service is taking place on the Feast of the Annunciation, which marks the moment Mary was told she had been chosen to be the mother of Jesus.

It is a day on which the church says it celebrates “one of the great women of the Bible and thinks about how we can respond to God’s call.” The celebration marks a major milestone for the Church of England, which traces its roots to the year 597, when the pope sent St.

Augustine to Britain to convert the population to Christianity.

He is now recognized as the first archbishop of Canterbury.

The English church broke away from the Roman Catholic Church in the 1530s, during the reign of King Henry VIII.

The church ordained its first female priests in 1994 and its first female bishop in 2015.

Mullally begins her tenure as archbishop at a difficult time for the Church of England and the Anglican Communion.

Her appointment may deepen rifts within the Anglican Communion, whose members are deeply divided over issues such as the role of women and the treatment of LGBTQ+ pe

原文链接: AP News