NAIROBI, Kenya (RNS) — Anglican women bishops in Africa are celebrating the unprecedented appointment of the Rev. Sarah Mullally as archbishop-elect of Canterbury, becoming on Friday (Oct. 3) the first woman selected as spiritual leader of the Church of England. Meanwhile, African traditionalists are rejecting the move as another miss for the Anglican Communion struggling to remain united.
Mullally, 63, is a former nurse who was ordained a priest in 2006. She became the first female bishop of London in 2018. She will be voted on by other bishops and installed next year, The Associated Press reported.
Former Canterbury Archbishop Justin Welby left the post in January, after resigning amid allegations he mishandled a series of abuses by volunteers at Christian summer camps. The process to identify Welby’s successor was closely watched in Africa, and some clerics and Anglicans questioned why it took so long. But when Mullally’s appointment was announced, African women bishops cheered, hoping she will breathe new life into the communion.
“It is very significant — we are very excited about (it) and we are talking about it as women bishops,” the Rev. Emily Onyango, an assistant bishop of the Diocese of Bondo in Kenya, told RNS. “It means a lot for the church. Being the first woman archbishop of Canterbury, we believe things will be done differently. … We know there will be justice in the church, and we know she will work for peace and unity — something we need both in the church and in the world.”
Most of the world’s Anglicans live in the Global South, particularly Sub-Saharan Africa. In 2020, the region had more than 63 million baptized Anglicans, compared to around 23 million in Europe. Large populations of Anglicans live in Nigeria, Uganda, Kenya and Southern Africa.
But soon after the announcement, Rwandan Archbishop Laurent Mbanda, who is chairman of the Global Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans, a conservative global Anglican movement, said in a statement that Mullally’s appointment abandoned global Anglicans, saying the Church of England chose a leader who would further divide the already split communion. He accused her of failing to uphold her consecration vows, saying she took an oath to “banish and drive away all strange and erroneous doctrine contrary to God’s Word.” He argued she instead has promoted unbiblical teachings regarding marriage and sexual morality.
In 2023, when asked by a reporter whether sexual intimacy in a same-sex relationship is sinful, Mullally said some such relationships could be blessed, which Mbanda referenced in his statement. She also voted in favor of introducing blessings of same-sex marriage into the Church of England.
Mbanda, the archbishop of Kigali, Rwanda, said GAFCON leaders had hoped the Church of England would take their position into consideration in deliberating over the choice of a new archbishop.
“Sadly, they have not done so,” said Mbanda, adding that although some will welcome Mullally’s appointment as the first woman archbishop of Canterbury, the majority of the Anglican Communion in Africa believe the Bible requires a spiritual leader who is a man.
Mbanda said in the statement that for over a century-and-a-half, the archbishop of Canterbury has functioned not only as the church leader of England, but also as a spiritual and moral leader of the Anglican Communion broadly. Due to the alleged failure by the new leader-elect to guard the faith, the office could no longer function as a credible leader of African Anglicans, he said.
But Onyango questioned whether GAFCON leaders were reading their Bibles properly, saying Jesus Christ didn’t come to the world because he was male, but to save every human being.
“I think their understanding of Scripture is very different,” she said.
Regarding homosexuality — a divisive issue in the church — Onyango said she expected Mullally to approach the matter through dialogue.
“We have a lot of hope because we think she will be a person of dialogue who will be listening,” Onyango said. “I think many of the problems in the church are because people don’t listen to each other. They take one stand and do not consider the opinions of other people.”
In South Africa, Thabo Makgoba, archbishop of Cape Town, said the Anglican Church in Southern Africa considered the appointment of the first woman as archbishop of Canterbury a “thrilling development.”
“We heartily welcome the announcement and look forward to working with her as we try to respond prophetically and pastorally to what God is up to,” Makgoba said.