The first female archbishop of Canterbury has marked her confirmation in the role with a vow to speak out about misogyny while questions continue about her record on safeguarding.
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Sarah Mullally took part in a service at St Paul’s Cathedral which legally confirmed her as the 106th person to take up the post and the first woman in the role. Some African church leaders have expressed dismay at the appointment.
In an interview to mark her confirmation in post, Mullally, a former chief nurse, said she had learned from experience about the importance of calling out misogyny. She said: “It is fair to say that I have, both in my secular role as well as in the church, experienced misogyny at times.”
She added that it should be discussed “so that you bring it out into the open”.
Asked this week about misogyny in the church, she said: “I’m conscious that being in this role, it’s important for me to speak of it, because there are some that don’t necessarily have the status or the power of this role, and feel more hesitant to do it.”
Mullally, who was previously bishop of London for eight years, said she had “always understood that people may find my appointment as a woman difficult in the Church”. She added: “What I hope to do is to be able to provide a space where I can offer hospitality to people, where I can listen to what their concerns are and, in a sense, find some way in which we can at least have partnership together in that way.”
Henry Ndukuba, the archbishop of the Church of Nigeria, said it was insensitive “to the conviction of the majority of Anglicans who are unable to embrace female headship in the episcopate”.
The archbishop of Rwanda’s Anglican church, Laurent Mbanda, said in a statement that the “majority of the Anglican Communion still believes that the bible requires a male-only episcopacy”.
Mullally has previously been open about her support for approval of same-sex blessings in the church, but appeared reticent in her new role to give her personal view on standalone services of blessing for same-sex couples – something the church is divided on.
She said: “As the archbishop of Canterbury, I see my role at the moment is to listen to what synod has to say about that and to continue to hold that space within the Church of England where there are a range of different views on this issue.”
Mullally also pledged to be open to scrutiny over her record on safeguarding in the church. Her predecessor, Justin Welby was forced to resign over the way he dealt with a safeguarding scandal.
Earlier this month the church dismissed a complaint against Mullally over claims she had colluded with an alleged abuser as bishop of London by showing him emails about the allegations in breach of clergy guidelines. The complainant, who plans to appeal against the decision, said she was unfit for the job.
House of Survivors, a group that helps victims of church abuse, urged the diocese of London to conduct a listening exercise about safeguarding. In a post on X, it added: “It is bewildering that @bishopSarah can walk away leaving so much unaddressed, unresolved.”
Michelle Burns, a former London diocesan safeguarding adviser, accused the London diocese of putting reputation before alleged victims. In a blogpost, she wrote: “Until safeguarding is structurally independent of institutional self-interest, survivors will continue to bear the cost of organisational comfort.”
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