Dame Sarah Mullally was recently nominated as the new Archbishop of Canterbury, making history as the first woman to hold the post in the nearly 500-year history of the Church of England. She will legally become the Archbishop of Canterbury following a Confirmation of Election at St Paul’s Cathedral in London on January 28, 2026. Following this, there will be an installation (or enthronement) at Canterbury Cathedral to mark the start of the new Archbishop of Canterbury’s ministry. Before dedicating her life to the ministry, Sarah Mullally was a cancer nurse. She was appointed as the Chief Nursing Officer for England at the age of 37, becoming the youngest person ever to hold the role. Mullally, aged 63, was appointed the Bishop of London in 2018.According to The BBC, Dame Sarah Mullally issued her first public statement following her nomination as the new Archbishop of Canterbury, stating:As I respond to the call of Christ to this new ministry, I do so in the same spirit of service to God and to others that has motivated me since I first came to faith as a teenager. At every stage of that journey, through my nursing career and Christian ministry, I have learned to listen deeply – to people and to God’s gentle prompting – to seek to bring people together to find hope and healing."“I want, very simply, to encourage the Church to continue to grow in confidence in the Gospel, to speak of the love that we find in Jesus Christ and for it to shape our actions. And I look forward to sharing this journey of faith with the millions of people serving God and their communities in parishes all over the country and across the global Anglican Communion." King Charles and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer both congratulated Sarah Mullally on her appointment. The new Archbishop of Canterbury will follow her predecessor, Justin Welby. Welby resigned in November 2024 following his failure to report barrister John Smyth, who reportedly abused countless young boys in Christian summer camps in the 1970s and 1980s. An independent inquiry reported that Welby and his peers "knew, at the highest level," about the abuse in 2013 but failed to report Smyth to the authorities. Welby stepped down after acknowledging that he must take "personal and institutional responsibility" for his misstep.Dame Sarah Mullally became a Christian at 16According to her biography on the Diocese of Oxford website, Sarah Mullally was born in Woking in 1962. She reportedly embraced Christianity at the age of 16. A nurse by profession, she worked for the UK's National Health Service (NHS) and became the youngest-ever chief nursing officer in England in 1999 at the age of 37. She was made a dame in recognition of "her outstanding contribution to nursing."According to The Guardian, Sarah Mullally reportedly trained for the ministry between 1998 and 2001. She also studied theology at the University of Kent. Mullally was reportedly ordained in 2001 and was a curate at the Diocese of Southwark, leaving behind her nursing profession in 2004. In 2012, Mullally was made the Canon Treasurer at Salisbury Cathedral, and in 2015, she held the position of Suffragan Bishop of Crediton in the Diocese of Exeter. In May 2018, she was appointed the 133rd Bishop of London at St Paul’s Cathedral, making history as the first woman to hold the role.According to the BBC, she said her one vocation in life was to "follow Jesus Christ" during her appointment at the time, saying:"I am often asked what it has been like to have had two careers, first in the NHS and now in the Church. I prefer to think that I have always had one vocation: to follow Jesus Christ".Much like her predecessor, Mullally is a vocal opponent of assisted dying. She described it as “unworkable and unsafe," and added that it "poses a risk to the most vulnerable people in our society," when the House of Commons passed the legislation.In 2023, Sarah Mullally celebrated the decision that allowed priests to bless same-sex couples, describing it as “a moment of hope for the Church."Bishop of London Sarah Mullally addresses the General Synod ahead of a vote which ultimately approved blessings for same-sex couples (Image via Getty) According to The Guardian, she also described herself as more pro-choice than pro-life while discussing abortion rights, saying:"I would suspect that I would describe my approach to this issue as pro-choice rather than pro-life, although if it were a continuum I would be somewhere along it moving towards pro-life when it relates to my choice and then enabling choice when it related to others."Tom Harwood @tomhfhLINKThe Church of England appoints the first female Archbishop. Sarah Mullally describes herself as a feminist and is seen as a theological liberal. She supports the observance of LGBT+ History Month, and favours abortion rights.On a personal front, Sarah Mullally is married to her husband Eamonn, and the couple shares two adult children, Grace and Liam. Sarah Mullally recently addressed the nation after being named the 106th Archbishop of Canterbury. In her speech, she spoke about the misuse of power in the church and the ongoing conflicts and wars around the world. She also spoke about the recent Manchester synagogue attack, saying, "Hatred and racism of any kind cannot be allowed to tear us apart."