The Church of England has named Dame Sarah Mullally as the new Archbishop of Canterbury, making her the first woman to occupy the office in the more than 1,400 year history of the Anglican Communion.

Mullally, who has been serving as Bishop of London since 2018, emerged the 106th Archbishop of Canterbury following the approval of the Crown Nominations Commission and confirmation by the monarch.

Born in Woking, Surrey, in 1962, Mullally trained first as a nurse and rose to become Chief Nursing Officer for England before turning to the priesthood.

Ordained in 2001, consecrated bishop in 2015, and appointed Bishop of London in December 2017, she has also served as Dean of the Chapel Royal since 2019.

Her appointment comes at a time the Church is still reeling from the leadership crises and abuse scandals that trailed the tenure of Archbishop Justin Welby, who has stepped aside amid mounting criticism of his handling of safeguarding failures.