A New Archbishop of Canterbury

Archbishop Sarah

On 28^th January 2026, Dame Sarah Mullally was officially confirmed as the 106th Archbishop of Canterbury in a ceremony at St Paul's Cathedral.

The ceremony was a mix of religious service and legal process.

Before being ordained, Dame Sarah had worked as a nurse in the NHS. She specialised as a cancer nurse and rose to be Director of Nursing at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in London. In 1999, at the age of 37, she was appointed as the Government’s Chief Nursing Officer for England. She was made a Dame Commander of the British Empire in 2005 for her outstanding contribution to health.

Whilst working as England’s Chief Nursing Officer, she began training at the South East Institute for Theological Education. She was ordained in 2001 and worked initially as a self-supporting minister before finally deciding to leave her Government post in 2004.

In 2012 she became the 4^th female Bishop in the Church of England, working in the Diocese of Exeter. In 2018 she was installed as the 133^rd Bishop of London at St Paul’s Cathedral, the first woman to hold this post.

Although she is now legally the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dame Sarah will only start performing most of her public-facing duties after her installation ceremony at Canterbury Cathedral on 25 March.