By Jose Kavi
London, Oct 3, 2025: The Indian Christian Women Movement, an ecumenical group, has applauded the election of a woman as the head of the Church of England.
“It is with sisterly joy that we welcome Dame Sarah Mullally to her new post as the new Archbishop of Canterbury,” said Noella D’Souza, a Catholic member of the movement.
King Charles III on October 3 approved Bishop Mullally as the 106th archbishop of Canterbury, the spiritual leader of the world’s 85 million Anglicans.
She is the first female Archbishop of Canterbury in the Protestant Church’s history.
However, the 63-year-old woman leader’s appointment has reportedly drawn criticism from conservative Anglicans mainly based in Africa who oppose women bishops.
“The Church of England has had its struggles, but it has always been far ahead of us as far as ordination and ordained ministry of women is concerned. It is with eager expectation that we wait to see her live out her Magnificat,” D’Souza, convener of the movement’s Mumbai unit, told Matters India on October 4.
She said the main objective of the Indian Christian Women Movement is to work for equal discipleship, and become part of the decision-making table of all Christian denominations.
Turning to her own Church, D’Souza said it has to “wait a few more decades for this to happen! If it does.”
Mullally will not only lead the Church of England but also become the ceremonial head of some 85 million Anglicans worldwide.
Archbishop Mullally will become the 106th Archbishop of Canterbury since Saint Augustine arrived in Kent from Rome in 597. Her installation is scheduled to take place at Canterbury Cathedral in March 2026.
She replaces Archbishop Justin Welby, who stepped down in January under pressure from a scandal in which he was accused of not appropriately addressing allegations of child abuse by a prominent church member.
The new leader has served as Bishop of London since 2018, becoming the first woman to hold that post. She previously served as Bishop of Crediton in Exeter diocese.
Before her ordination in 2001, she was the Government’s Chief Nursing Officer for England, appointed at the age of 37, the youngest person to serve in that role. Earlier in her career, she specialized as a cancer nurse. She has described nursing as “an opportunity to reflect the love of God.”
The Crown Nominations Commission for Canterbury selected Bishop Sarah following a process of public consultation and prayerful discernment that began in February.
The commission was composed of representatives from across the Church of England, the global Anglican Communion and the Diocese of Canterbury.
The Archbishop of Canterbury is the most senior bishop in the Church of England. The ministry combines several roles: Diocesan Bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury, Primate of All England and Metropolitan, and primus inter pares (first among equals) among the Primates of the global Anglican Communion, spread over 165 countries.
In the House of Lords, the Archbishop of Canterbury is among 26 bishops who comprise the Lords Spiritual.
In a statement, Bishop Mullally said she responded to the call of Christ to the 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.”
She expressed her desire 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 said she looks 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.”
From the ‘Church Unity’ perspective this appointment comes as a setback. The Catholic Church per se does not even consider ordaining women to the priesthood. How can full unity be ever achieved between a Church that has no women priests and a church that has not merely women priests by also bishops? No way! It’s like pulling a sheet of muslin spread over a thornbush – it’s sure gonna tear into shreds!