CANTERBURY, England: Sarah Mullally was appointed as the brand new Archbishop of Canterbury on Friday (Oct 3), changing into the primary lady to guide the Church of England within the 1,400-year historical past of the position.
Mullally, 63, additionally turns into the ceremonial head of some 85 million Anglicans worldwide, who’re divided between conservative Christians, particularly in Africa, the place homosexuality is outlawed in some nations, and their typically extra liberal counterparts within the West.
GAFCON, a grouping of conservative Anglican church buildings throughout Africa and Asia, instantly criticised Mullally’s appointment, saying it confirmed that the English arm of the Church had “relinquished its authority to guide”.
NEW ARCHBISHOP HAS SUPPORTED LIBERAL CAUSES
Mullally, who has served as Bishop of London since 2018, has beforehand championed a number of liberal causes inside the Church, together with permitting blessings for same-sex {couples} in civil partnerships and marriages.
Reforms launched 11 years in the past made it potential for a girl to carry the workplace, and by being named because the 106th Archbishop of Canterbury, Mullally turns into the feminine chief of one of many final areas of British public life to have been led solely by males.
Accepting her appointment on Friday, Mullally stated she desires to carry individuals collectively to search out “hope and therapeutic”.
“I need, very merely, to encourage the Church to proceed to develop in confidence,” she stated in her first assertion as Archbishop.
“I stay up for sharing this journey of religion with the tens of millions of individuals serving God and their communities in parishes all around the nation and throughout the worldwide Anglican Communion.”
