Sarah Mullally, first woman at the head of the Church of England

It is a historical first: a woman, Bishop Sarah Mulally, was appointed as Archbishop of Cantorbéry on Friday October 3. As such, she becomes the church of the Church of England and Primus Inter Pares within Anglican communion. She succeeds this post to Justin Welby, who had resigned at the start of the year against the backdrop of accusations of mismanagement of cases of sexual abuse.

Born in 1962 into a family of four, Sarah Mulally began with a secular career as a nurse. In 1999, she was notably named a nursing in chef for England, which earned her six years later to be appointed lady Commander of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II.

In parallel with her professional activities, she discerns a priestly vocation within the Church of England, which allows the ordination of women as priests since 1992. In 2001, she was ordered deacon then priest the following year. In 2014, the Church of England opened the ordination of women as bishops and Sarah Mullally was one of the first to receive this sacrament: it became bishop in 2015. Three years later, it was appointed to the important position of Bishop of London, the British capital.

Primus Inter Pares

If the appointment of Sarah Mullally as Archbishop of Cantorbéry is not a big surprise – his name has been circulating for several days already, especially since the serious contenders in this position were not so numerous – the fact remains that it will constitute an important challenge for Anglican communion. This indeed brings together different territorial churches, some are not open to the ordination of women as a priests and therefore a fortiori as a bishop. Now the Archbishop of Cantorbéry has a separate role in communion, of Primus Inter Pares (first among peers), among the primates of the various churches.

Even more, he – and therefore she now – is one of the four “communion instruments” (with the Lampeth conference, the Anglican Advisory Council and the Primate Assembly), which guarantee the unity of the Anglican world, despite its pastoral and doctrinal diversity. Sarah Mullally will therefore have to embody this unity while being itself by nature one of the reasons for the strong tensions that exist within Anglicanism.

Anglican communion, “deeply divided”

The Anglican world divisions have exacerbated themselves in recent decades, especially due to the ordination of women – increasingly accepted – and more recently around unions of people of the same sex. Meeting in the summer of 2022, the latest Lambeth conference – a sort of Anglican World Council – had just just avoided running short and the schism, unity having been maintained only thanks to the finesse of Justin Welby who had proposed to act that Anglicanism is “deeply divided, and that is not about to end”.

The process which led to the appointment of Sarah Mullally to the conduct of the diocese of Cantorbéry was led over several months by a commissionad hocincluding representatives of the Church of England, Anglican communion and members appointed by the British sovereign. This commission then transmitted the name of its choice to the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, who then transmitted it in turn to King Charles III so that he proceeds to the official appointment. The King of the United Kingdom is indeed supreme governor of the Church of England.