🔗 Share this article

The 63-year-old former NHS chief nurse has been selected as the new Archbishop of Canterbury designate - making history as the first woman to be selected for this significant position.

Previously England's chief nursing officer, the sixty-three-year-old became a priest in 2006 and was appointed as the initial woman to serve as Bishop of London in 2018 - the third most senior member of religious leadership in the Church of England.

This represents the initial occasion in nearly 500 years of history that the Church has selected a woman to assume its leadership.

Historic Selection

The Church has been without someone in the top job for approximately twelve months after Justin Welby resigned over a safeguarding scandal.

He resigned following a critical investigation into a serial offender linked to the Church. The report found that he "could and should" have notified authorities about John Smyth's abuse of boys and young men to police in 2013.

Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell took on most of the former Archbishop's responsibilities in an temporary arrangement, and was among those casting ballots of the body charged with selecting his successor.

Official Procedure

In line with tradition, the process of selecting a new archbishop involves a candidate being given to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and then passed to the sovereign.

The Prime Minister has welcomed Dame Sarah's appointment, stating: "This position will serve an important function in our country's affairs. I offer my best wishes and anticipate collaborating."

Although formally, the monarch is leader of the Anglican Church, the individual holding the role of spiritual leader is the highest-ranking cleric and is the spiritual leader of the religious institution and the worldwide Anglican Communion.

Royal and International Reaction

King Charles III has praised the new Archbishop on her new role, "which is of such importance in the United Kingdom and across the global Anglican Communion", the royal household stated.

The Global Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans, which advocates for traditional positions, has questioned the appointment, stating that although certain groups support the decision, "most members of the Anglican Communion still maintains that the scriptures requires a male-only episcopacy."

Handover Process

She will not formally assume her new role until a confirmation of election in January, and an installation ceremony comes subsequently, after they have pledged allegiance to the monarch.

In a statement on the announcement day after her new role was confirmed, she commented: "I recognize this is a huge responsibility but I undertake it with a feeling of calm and trust in God to support me as has consistently occurred."

Speaking from Canterbury Cathedral, she said that "during a period that seeks absolute answers and group identity, Anglicanism offers something quieter but more resilient."

Responding to Attack

Talking about the "horrific violence" of Thursday's attack on a Jewish house of worship in the northern city, she stated "we are witnessing hatred that emerges through divisions across our society."

She added: "We then as a Church have a duty to be a people who stand with the Jewish people against antisemitism in all its forms. Hatred and racism of all types cannot be permitted to divide our society."

Professional History

Married with two children, she spent over 35 years in the NHS, becoming the youngest-ever chief nursing officer for the country in 1999.

While serving voluntarily in the Church at the time, it was just a short time after that she chose to enter a priest and was quickly tasked with helping implement changes in the way the institution addressed abuse.

In that year she became canon treasurer at Salisbury Cathedral before becoming Bishop of Crediton in the regional church administration in 2015.

As London's religious leader she was regarded as someone who used her experience as an health service manager to help update the church district.

Guiding Principles

"People frequently inquire what it has been like to have had different professional paths, initially in the health service and currently in the religious institution.

"I like to consider that I have consistently maintained a single calling: to pursue Christian faith, to know him and to share his message, always seeking to demonstrate empathy in the service of others, whether as a healthcare professional, a religious leader, or a church official."

Upcoming Responsibilities

Possibly the pressing issue in her agenda is still to chart a better path towards dealing with abuse and treating with more compassion those impacted by such incidents.

There has also been a decline in church attendance, though London has to a degree resisted this pattern.

A particular subject she has been most outspoken about is end-of-life choices - she is a strong critic, as was her predecessor.

When the law was approved in the House of Commons, she described it as "unworkable and unsafe and poses a risk to the most at-risk individuals in our community."

Progressive Stances

Among her responsibilities as London's religious leader was to chair a committee trying to steer the religious institution's determination on whether to sanction gay unions.

She described the determination to finally allow priests to bless same-sex couples in last year as "a moment of hope for the Church."

A former Archbishop, described her position as requiring a "newspaper in one hand and a Bible in the other."

The former spiritual leader told media outlets "the expectation of having an position on all matters is significantly demanding."