Sarah Mullally named the first woman to lead the Church of England
London (AP) – The bishop of London Sarah Mullally was announced on Friday as the next Archbishop of Canterbury, the first time in 1,400 years that a woman was chosen as spiritual leader of the Church of England.
Mullally, 63, former director of nursing for England, will face serious challenges, including divisions on the treatment of women and LGBTQ people. It will also have to face the concerns that church leaders have not done enough to eliminate the sexual abuse scandals that have rekindled the church for more than a decade.
The choice of Mullally as a designated Canterbury Chevêque marks an important step for an church which ordered its first priests priests in 1994 and its first bishop in 2015. It has followed 105 men who occupied the role since St. Augustine became the first archbishop of Canterbury in the year 597.
Mullally sees hope despite the uncertain times
In her first remarks, Mullally spoke of a fighter in the cathedral of Canterbury where she opened with a prayer and spoke of the hope that she saw despite uncertain times in the world and difficulties in the church.
She said her first vocation was to follow Christ and disseminate his message. But it also addressed some of the key problems to which the nation is faced, including migration which created a political division, a debate on a bill in the parliament to legalize the dying assisted, to which it opposes, and it mentioned the “horrible violence” of the attack on the synagogue on Thursday in Manchester on Yom Kippur, the healthiest day of the Jewish year.
“We are witnessing the hatred that rises through fractures in our communities,” said Mullally. “I know that the god who is with us approaches those who suffer. We, then as a Church, have the responsibility of being a people who resist the Jewish community against anti -Semitism in all its forms. Hatred and racism of any kind can not be allowed to tear us away. ”
She noted her place to make the history of the Church and thanked the women who had preceded her, saying that she intended to be a shepherd in the Church to allow the faith and the practices of others.
“I will not always get things right,” she said. “But I am encouraged by the psalmist who tells us that” although you are rushing, you will not fall down, because the Lord quickly holds you by your hand. ” I trust the truth of these words for me, for you, for the Church of England, for the nation. »»
Starmer and King Charles welcome the appointment of Mullally
Prime Minister Keir Starmer welcomed Mullally’s appointment to this role and wished his success.
“The Church of England is of a deep importance for this country,” said Starmer. “Its churches, cathedrals, schools and charities are part of the fabric of our communities. The Archbishop of Canterbury will play a key role in our national life.
Mullally will replace the old archbishop Justin WelbyWho announced his resignation in November after an independent investigation discovered that he had not spoken to the police of physical and sexual abuses in series by a volunteer in the Christian summer camps as soon as he became aware of it.
“The new archbishop will face the drop in church attendance, the swollen management structures and the Clergs that people do in the room,” said Andrew Grastone, defender of church abuse survivors, the British Press Association told the British. “But the biggest challenge for the new archbishop is to restore confidence after a decade of abuse scandals.”
Mullally will officially become the Archbishop of Canterbury during a ceremony in the cathedral of Canterbury in January and will then be inducted during an official ceremony likely to include members of the royal family.
King Charles III, who approved his appointment, congratulated Mullally and noted the importance of his role which will have ramifications in the world.
The Archbishop of Canterbury is the first among the equals
Anglican communion has more than 85 million members distributed in 165 countries, including the episcopal church in the United States. While each national church has its own chief, the Archbishop of Canterbury is considered to be among the equals.
The Mullally process was an 11 -month -old marathon chaired by a committee of 20 people chaired by the former director general of the MI5, the British national spy agency.
“At least on the latest occasions, a new pope was selected at high speed, but to select the Archbishop of Canterbury, which is not exactly equivalent, but what many could consider as a relatively equivalent position, it takes months,” said George Gross, expert in monarchy and modern religious thinking at King’s College in London.
But it is not the most transparent process. There was no published list of candidates, or an open vote. It was more a slow process to use various interest groups to determine which of the current bishops could advance the Church.
