THE next Archbishop of Canterbury is to be the Rt Revd Sarah Mullally, the Bishop of London since 2018, Downing Street announced on Friday. She is to be the first woman to hold the post.
The nomination of the next Primate of All England was agreed by at least a two-thirds majority of the 17 voting members of the Canterbury Crown Nominations Commission (CNC), who held their final meeting last week. A shortlist had been agreed at their previous meeting in August (News, 8 August).
Bishop Mullally, who is 63, succeeds the Rt Revd Justin Welby, who resigned in November after the publication of the Makin report on the Church’s handling of the abuse perpetrated by John Smyth (News, 15 November 2024). The CNC convened six months later, at the end of May.
Before ordination, Bishop Mullally trained and worked as a nurse in London, becoming a senior civil servant in the Department of Health. She was the youngest ever Chief Nursing Officer, holding that appointment from 1999 to 2004. She was ordained in 2001, and served as a self-supporting minister until 2006 in Battersea, south London.
She went on to be Team Rector of Sutton, in Southwark diocese, before being appointed Canon Treasurer of Salisbury Cathedral in 2012. She was elevated to the episcopate in 2015, as Bishop of Crediton in the diocese of Exeter. She was appointed Bishop of London just two years later (News, 17 December 2017).
While Bishop of Crediton, she was asked to lead on the implementation of recommendations set out in the Elliott review, which called for sweeping changes to the Church’s safeguarding procedures (News, 27 May 2016). She has been an advocate for survivors of abuse in a church context.
Bishop Mullally is Dean of the Chapels Royal, and speaks regularly in the House of Lords on issues including migration, child well-being, and health and social care. She has been outspoken against the assisted-dying Bill currently being considered by the Lords (News, 19 September). For three years, she led the Church’s workstream on sexuality, Living in Love and Faith.
Bishop Mullally is married to a business architect and has two adult children.
The CNC was chaired by Lord Evans, a former head of MI5 and a crossbench peer. In an interview earlier this year, he described the process as one of “discernment” rather than straightforward “selection”.
In addition to Lord Evans, the voting members were: the Archbishop of York, and the Bishop of Norwich, the Rt Revd Graham Usher, representing the Northern and Southern Provinces; and six members elected from the General Synod, five from the Anglican Communion, and three from the diocese of Canterbury.
Processes that follow the announcement include the election of the Archbishop-designate by the College of Canons of Canterbury Cathedral, followed by a Confirmation of Election in January, when the Archbishop-elect legally becomes the Archbishop of Canterbury. After this, the Archbishop will pay homage to the King before being installed in the Chair of St Augustine at Canterbury Cathedral.
A press conference to reveal the 106th Archbishop is being held in Canterbury on Friday morning.
Further coverage to follow