The long process to appoint Sarah Mullally as the first female Archbishop of Canterbury has come to an end this Wednesday. The new spiritual leader of the Church of England has been confirmed in the position in a solemn and pompous ceremony at the Catedral de Canterburywhich was attended by the main political leaders of the United Kingdom and also the princes of Wales, representing the British royal family. Mullally, 63, will be in charge of leading an institution affected by the abuse scandalsdue to internal divisions and the loss of faithful.
The new archbishop has been consecrated in a ceremony marked by rituals and symbolism. Upon her arrival at the cathedral, she knocked on the door three times before being received inside, beginning an event that included the participation of representatives of the anglican communion from all over the world and which has given rise to several languages, including Spanish, in an example of the penetration of this branch of Christianity in the world. Some 95 million faithful in 165 countries practice this faith, according to estimates.
The climax of the ceremony has come with the “installation” of the new archbishop in the chair of St Augustine, the 13th century throne that symbolizes her role as ‘primus inter pares’ (first among equals) within the Anglican communion. “I solemnly pledge myself before you to serve the Church of Englandto the Anglican communion and to the entire Church of Christ throughout the world, so that together we can proclaim the Gospel of Christ, which reconciles us with God and breaks down the walls that separate us,” he assured before receiving loud applause from those in attendance.
Mention to the victims
This Wednesday’s ceremony has put an end to a process that began at the end of 2024 with the resignation of the previous archbishop de Canterbury, Justin Welbyaccused of failing to act appropriately in the case of John Smyth, a lawyer with ties to the Church who mistreated and abused at least 130 children in the last decades of the last century. Smyth died in 2018 without being brought to justice, despite the fact that Welby himself had known about these cases since at least 2013.
The approval of new mechanisms to detect abuse and to protect the most vulnerable within the Church has been one of the main purposes of Mullally, who once again recalled this commitment in his first sermon after the “installation.” “We must not overlook nor minimize the suffering of those who have been harmed by the actions, omissions and failures of those who are part of our own churches and Christian communities,” he assured. “We must continue committed to the truthcompassion, justice and action.
Pending tasks
A firm defender of the role of women in the Anglican communion, the new archbishop will face the challenge of unite an institution in which the appointment of women as priests is still not accepted in some provinces, including Nigeria or Southeast Asia. The divisions between the most conservative and most liberal sectors have also become evident in the debate on the inclusion of the LGTBI+ community and on the blessing of same-sex marriagessomething that Mullally herself promoted in 2023, when she was still bishop of London.
Another of its main challenges will be to reverse the progressive loss of faithful. The proportion of the British population that considers itself Christian stood at a 46% in the 2021 census, compared to 59% in 2011. On the contrary, the percentage of people who define themselves as non-religious rose from 25% to 37% in the same period. The loss of weight of Anglicanism in the United Kingdom has opened a debate about the advisability of maintaining the paper that the institution still maintains in some state structuresincluding the House of Lords, where 26 seats are still reserved for their representatives.
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