DAME Sarah Mullally will be the next head of the worldwide Anglican Church as the first female Archbishop of Canterbury.
The former nurse replaces Justin Welby who stepped down over failures to act against eminent English lawyer John Smyth who abused as many as 130 boys and young men over five decades.
The Anglican Church – also known as the Church of England – with around three million in the Pacific if Australia and New Zealand are included.
Speaking after her appointment, Mullally outlined her view on the role of the church.
“We’re witnessing hatred that rises up through fractures across our communities,” Mullally said in reference to attacks on Jewish places of worship in Manchester.
“Hatred and racism of any kind cannot be allowed to tear us apart.”
Mullally recognised hope displayed in communities, chaplaincies, the church of England, and across the wider Anglican community.
“I see hospitals and prison chaplains caring for families in times of desperation,” she said.
“In an age that craves certainty and tribalism, Anglicanism offers something quieter and stronger shaped by prayer and lit from within by the glory of Christ. That is what gives me hope.”
Mullally, 63, became a Christian at age 16 and worked as a nurse before entering theological school and being ordained in 2001.
She is married to Eamonn, an Irish-born IT and Enterprise Architect, and the couple have two grown-up children, Liam and Grace.