First Woman Named Archbishop of Canterbury

 

Sarah Mullally named first woman Archbishop of Canterbury

By Lisa Hornung

   

Dame Sarah Mullally poses for a portrait after being named the first woman Archbishop of Canterbury in the Church of England's nearly 500-year history at Canterbury Cathedral Friday. The Archbishop of Canterbury is the head of the Church of England and the spiritual leader of the worldwide Anglican faith. Photo by Neil Hall/EPA

Oct. 3 (UPI) -- The new Archbishop of Canterbury designate is Dame Sarah Mullally, the first woman in the position.

Mullally, 63, is a former chief nurse and became a priest in 2006. She was named the first female bishop of London in 2018, which is the third-most senior clergy member in the Church of England.

In her first public statement Friday she condemned the "horrific violence" of Thursday's attack on a synagogue in Manchester. She said "hatred and racism cannot tear us apart."

The Church of England announced in a statement: "The Crown Nominations Commission (CNC) for Canterbury nominated Bishop Sarah following a process of public consultation and prayerful discernment that began in February this year."

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Except for the precedents that Goodall set, I'm hard-pressed to see how these stories are related to the Archbishop of Canterbury...

• English town ejects black swan that tried to drown local birds
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There will be an Election by the College of Canons of Canterbury Cathedral sometime before Christmas, and there will be a confirmation on Jan. 28. Then there will be an enthronement in March, the church said.

The last leader of the Church of England, Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, left his post in January. He had resigned two months earlier over his handling of a sex abuse scandal.

A Christian camp organizer, the late John Smyth, had allegedly abused boys at the camp in the 1970s and '80s. A report found that Smyth might have faced charges while he was alive if Welby had reported the abuse when he learned about it in 2013. Smyth died in 2018.

Once an archbishop has been chosen by the church, a name is passed to Prime Minister Keir Starmer, then passed to King Charles III.

The king is the head of the Church of England, but the Archbishop of Canterbury is the most senior bishop and spiritual leader of the church and the Anglican Communion worldwide.

Starmer welcomed Mullally's appointment, saying: "I wish her every success and look forward to working together."

The Church of England first ordained women priests in 1994. The first female bishop appointments came 20 years later in 2014.

A conservative group, the Global Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans, criticized Mullally's appointment. They said that, although they welcome it, "The majority of the Anglican Communion still believes that the Bible requires a male-only episcopacy," the BBC reported.

She said Friday in Canterbury Cathedral that "in an age that craves certainty and tribalism, Anglicanism offers something quieter but stronger," the BBC reported.

She promised to confront the failures that "left a legacy of deep harm and mistrust. ... We must all be willing to have light shone on our actions, regardless of our role in the Church."

Bishop Anthony Poggo, secretary general of the Anglican Communion, said in a statement, "May God grant her wisdom and discernment, as she seeks to listen to member churches, encourage mutual support, and foster unity. The Anglican Communion Office is fully committed to supporting her ministry as she works with other Provinces and the Instruments of the Anglican Communion."

What about working with God? Welby left because he was completely out of touch with God in the last couple of years, in my humble opinion.

War on Christianity > King Charles IV, Head of the Church of England celebrates Islam with 'enormous pride'

 

In this war on Christianity, the Head of the Church of England can't seem to surrender fast enough to an enemy that wants nothing less than to destroy all other religions. 

Head of the Church of England pays tribute to Islamic center with ‘enormous pride and admiration’

Jul 23, 2025 1:00 pm By Robert Spencer22 Comments

When will the head or any leading figure of any Islamic sect, or any prominent Islamic leader, commemorate the anniversary of the establishment of a church, synagogue, or Hindu temple, anywhere in the world? Now, why is that?

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Catholic & Anglican Leaders say Christians Now a Minority, Must Merge

Canterbury Cathedral © Toby Melville / Reuters

Practicing Christians are now a minority in the UK and the Catholic and Anglican churches must pull together in order to survive, according to two senior British clerics.

The Right Reverend Richard Chartres, Bishop of London, and Cardinal Vincent Nichols, head of the Catholic Church in England and Wales, were speaking at an event at Hampton Court Palace, London, on Tuesday.

They hailed the reconciliation between two churches that have traditionally been rivals, and the gathering also saw the first Catholic act of worship at the chapel of Henry VIII for 450 years.

“I would like to think of this evening as a celebration of how far we’ve come and also a celebration of a common agenda,” Chartres said.

Nichols spoke about the contribution Catholics had made to the UK as a “significant minority,” to which Chartres said “we are all minorities now.”

“What I see, particularly around London, is that increasingly we are living in a post-denominational era,” Chartres added.

Recent studies suggest the cleric may be correct, with figures showing a plunge in regular worshippers in the UK.

The church’s annual pew count reports only 1.4 percent of the population of England attends Anglican services every Sunday. Mid-week services have also slipped below the one million mark for the first time.

Average Sunday attendance has fallen by 22,000 from 764,700 in 2014. That is a third less than the average during the 1960s.

The fall is partly down to the ageing and death of worshipers, with the church losing one percent of its attendees per year.

Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby told a recent crisis meeting of Anglican leaders the church is being affected by an “anti-Christian culture.”

“In this country many talk of the post-Christian society, but the Church of England educates more than a million children in our schools,” he told the gathered Primates.

UK is Denying Refuge to Christians Fleeing Isil, say Church Leaders

Charity launches petition with backing of Lord Carey, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, calling on the Government to provide a safe haven for Christians fleeing jihadi tyranny in Syria

Lord Carey, the former Archbishop of Canterbury,
led criticism aimed at the Government
 Photo: Andrew Crowley/The Telegraph

Church leaders have accused David Cameron of “turning his back” on Christians facing genocide in Syria and Iraq by failing to offer them refuge in the UK.

Lord Carey, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, led criticism aimed at the Government for failing to provide a safe haven to Christians trying to flee the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil).

He will sign a petition that is being launched on Monday calling on the Government to “welcome Christian refugees and give them priority as asylum seekers”.

It comes amid growing concern that the Government is ignoring their plight.

Last week, 42 Christian families were smuggled out of Syria to Beirut and then flown to Poland where they received safe haven. The operation was run by the Barnabas Fund, a charity aiding persecuted Christians, and the Weidenfeld Safe Havens Fund, a Jewish-funded organisation founded by Lord Weidenfeld, the publisher.

More Christians will be evacuated to the Czech Republic and even as far away as Brazil in coming weeks but, according to the organisers, the Government has so far refused requests to relocate Christians in the UK. Lord Carey said last night: “Syrian and Iraqi Christians are being butchered, tortured and enslaved.

“We need the British Government to work with charities like the Barnabas Fund and others to evacuate those who are in desperate fear of their lives.”

Lord Weidenfeld, 95, who fled Nazi-occupied Austria in 1938 with the help of British Quakers, said: “Why is it that the Poles and the Czechs are taking in Christian families and yet the British government stands idly by?

“This mood of indifference is reminiscent of the worst phases of appeasement, and may have catastrophic consequences. Europe must awake and the Conservative British Government should be leading from the front.

"Most European governments, especially those that are Christian explicitly or implicitly, are failing in their duty to look after their fellow Christians in their hour of need.”

The petition, launched by the Barnabas Fund, calls on governments to work with Middle East countries and “recognise that Christians are especially targeted and uniquely in need of safe refuge”.

The petition points out that the Christian communities in Syria and in Iraq are among the oldest in the world but that they now face “an existential threat to their survival”.

It adds: “They are being killed, enslaved and persecuted by so-called Islamic State and are forced to flee from their homes. Their homes are being destroyed and they have no safe areas in the region.

“The oppression and persecution of Christians, simply for their faith, is leading many Christians to conclude that they have no choice but to leave.”

The Barnabas Fund claims that just over ten years, the numbers of Christians living in Iraq has plunged from 1.5 million to 300,000 while in Syria it is estimated half a million Christians, out of two million, have fled since the beginning of the current conflict.

Dr Patrick Sookhdeo, the Barnabas Fund’s international director, said: “With the rise of Islamic State we are seeing what looks set to become a 'genocide’ of Christians in the Middle East, yet the UK has its doors firmly closed.

“So many British Christians have been in contact with us to tell us that they have a spare room or even a second home in which they want to welcome Syrian and Iraqi Christians. Yet our government seems determined to turn its back on some of the most vulnerable people in the world.”

Canon Andrew White, the former vicar of the only Anglican church in Iraq, said: “I really think it is horrendous that the British have not offered refuge to these Christian refugees.”

The Most Rev Justin Welby, the present Archbishop of Canterbury, has expressed his concern over the plight of Christians in Syria and Iraq and has “offered his full support for them being given protection in the UK and in other Western countries”.

David Cameron drew criticism from charities and aid organisations in June after announcing he would “modestly expand” the number of Syrian refugees allowed into the UK by offering “a few hundred more” places.

The Government has declined to show a preference for Christian refugees. It was reported in June that Britain granted entry to 187 Syrians since Theresa May introduced the Vulnerable Persons Relocation scheme in January 2014.

The Prime Minister said the UK would boost the number of places to resettle the most vulnerable, but Downing Street said the figure would not exceed 1,000.

By comparison, Germany has offered 30,000 places to resettle Syrians, Sweden has committed to resettling 2,700, Switzerland has offered 3,500 places and Austria 1,500.

A source close to the Barnabas Fund said: “The UK government are blocking our evacuations. We are negotiating with governments in eastern Europe and even as far afield as Brazil but the British government is so far not forthcoming.”

I thought Cameron was a professing Christian! Was I wrong?