(LifeSiteNews) — Dame Sarah Mullally has been chosen as the new Anglican archbishop of Canterbury, marking the first time a woman has been named to the highest ecclesiastical position in the Anglican Church.

The seat of the archbishop of Canterbury had been vacant since January 7, 2025, when Archbishop Justin Welby resigned due to allegations of mishandling an abuse case.

Mullally now becomes the first woman to hold the prestigious office. While the reigning monarch, in this case King Charles III, is officially the head of the Church of England, the archbishop of Canterbury is the most senior bishop and the spiritual leader of the global Anglican community.

The Anglican Church began “ordaining” women in 1994, and the first female “bishop” was appointed in 2014.

Mullally previously served as bishop of London in 2018, considered to be the third-highest member of the Church of England. She previously worked as a National Health Service (NHS) nurse and became the youngest-ever chief nursing officer for England in 1999. She decided to enter the Anglican clergy in the early 2000s. Mullally is married and has two children.

The former nurse is known for her liberal theological and political views. She has described herself as a feminist and is a supporter of abortion and the LGBT agenda. In 2022, as bishop of London, she favored the observance of “LGBT+ History Month” and the launch of an advisory group for the diocese that focused on “the pastoral care and inclusion of LGBT+ people in the life of our church communities.”

Mullally expressed her pro-abortion views in a blog written in 2012: “I would suspect that I would describe my approach to this issue as pro choice rather than pro live [sic] 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 – if that makes any sense.”

The election process of the archbishop of Canterbury involves the Crown Nominations Commission (CNC), which includes a chair appointed by the British prime minister and representatives of the Church of England. The CNC nominates a candidate to the prime minister, who then formally advises the monarch, who formally appoints (or rejects) the candidate.

Mullally will officially assume her new role next January, after the confirmation of the election, which will be followed by an enthronement service, typically in the presence of the monarch or a representative of the crown.