The Lord has brought: The Church of England will be led by a woman for the first time
A woman was appointed head of the Church of England for the first time. Sarah Mullally will take office in January 2026 and will receive the rank of Archbishop of Canterbury. The newly minted spiritual head managed to distinguish herself even before the start of her ministry by organizing an art performance on the walls and columns of the thousand-year-old Canterbury Cathedral. What Mullally wanted to say to the religious community with this gesture, why a woman was chosen for the position of archbishop, and what Charles III and the entire English church system should expect — in the Izvestia article.
The position of Archbishop of Canterbury was occupied by a woman for the first time: what is known
Bishop Sarah Mullally of London has become the first woman to be appointed Archbishop of Canterbury, the spiritual head of the Church of England. The candidacy for the post was approved by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and the English monarch (he is also the head of the Anglican Church) Charles III. "The King has approved the candidacy of the Right Reverend and Honourable Dame Sarah Mullally to be elected by the College of Canons of Canterbury Cathedral in place of the Right Reverend and Honourable Justin Portal Welby," the Prime Minister's office said in a statement.
Sarah Mullally delivers a speech at Canterbury Cathedral
Welcoming Sarah Mullally's appointment, Keir Starmer stated that the Archbishop plays a key role in the national life of the country. "Her (Church of England. — Izvestia) Churches, cathedrals, schools, and charities are an integral part of our communities. The Archbishop of Canterbury will play a key role in our national life. I wish her every success and look forward to working together," the Prime Minister said.
Despite the fact that Mullally is due to take office only in January 2026, the Anglican Church has already been divided into two camps. Reformists were enthusiastic about the elevation of a woman to the rank of Archbishop of Canterbury. According to them, Mullally managed to do something that no other British lady could. Reformists are confident that a female archbishop can unite the divided Anglican community and restore the church's former power and social importance.
The opinion of conservatives is radically different. They believe that such a step creates additional disunity within the church. Some representatives of the Anglican clergy in Africa, Asia and Latin America have already spoken out against Mallali's candidacy. Archbishop Henry Ndukuba of Nigeria has stated that his church is completely severing ties with the Church of England and does not recognize its primate.
The conservative group of the Global Anglican Brotherhood (GAFCON), representing the majority of believers of the denomination, in turn, expressed "condolences" in connection with the appointment of Mullally. Their reaction is justified: the ordination of women is contrary to the precepts of the Bible. The fraternity said in a statement that they reject "the so-called instruments of the community," which failed to "support the doctrine and discipline of the Anglican communion." Archbishop Laurent Mbanda, who heads the GAFCON Council of Bishops, noted that the Canterbury department "no longer serves as a guarantor of spiritual unity." In his opinion, the leadership of the Anglican movement should pass to those who remain faithful to the Holy Scriptures. Mbanda also called the incident a moment of truth for world Anglicanism.
Some suggest that Sarah Mullally's appointment is just an experiment. The woman will serve as archbishop for only six years, since, according to the canons, the primate is obliged to retire upon reaching the age of 70.
Uma Ward
Immediately after Sarah Mullally's appointment, a scandal broke out in the UK over an art installation at Canterbury Cathedral. Christian Today reported that temporary graffiti with questions to God was applied to the walls and columns of the millennial Anglican church. The newly minted archbishop attracted representatives of the LGBT community to create the performance "Hear Us" (the LGBT movement is recognized as extremist and banned in Russia). Inscriptions with thoughtful content appeared inside the cathedral: "Are you there?", "God, what happens when we die?". The leadership of the temple called the project a bridge between cultures, styles and genres, but to many believers such "art" seemed blasphemy.
US Vice President Jay Dee Vance called the art performance "truly disgusting" and noted that "in an attempt to please marginalized communities, the church vandalized a beautiful historical building." Tesla founder Elon Musk also said that an "exhibition" of this kind is a "disgrace." Marcus Walker, rector of St. Bartholomew's Church in London, did not stand aside. He said that such actions on the part of the leadership of Canterbury Cathedral indicate a loss of "understanding of the sacred."
Despite the criticism, the cathedral's leadership continues to defend the idea of the exhibition, arguing that the project raises "uncomfortable questions about faith and modern society." The exhibition will be open until January 2026, until Sarah Mullally takes office.
Orthodox catechist and publicist Ruslan Kalinchuk shared with Izvestia the opinion that the "action" is aimed at those "who don't want to go to church anyway." Since there is now a decrease in interest in religion and the church, the leadership decided to focus on those for whom the cathedral may look like an "object of leisure": an art space, a psychological support circle or a disco club. According to the expert, such performances are created because the Church of England has cornered itself by blindly following the liberal agenda.
— You see, the Anglican Church has recently been trying, given the catastrophic drop in the number of people who regularly attend church, to target those for whom the church is an art gallery, a psychological support circle, a place to hang out or for a disco. Such people will never go to church anyway. They will limit themselves to a like and a comment on social networks. The Anglicans have driven themselves into a situation where a turn to conservative, traditional values is no longer possible, because a lot of effort and money has been invested in promoting the liberal agenda, the expert believes.
Ruslan Kalinchuk is also confident that no one is planning to pull the Anglican Church out of the crisis. Internal disagreements on issues of modernism, gender ideology and LGBT* are making themselves felt. The expert believes that Sarah Mullally is a symbol of the new in a conservative society. In this way, the Church of England is trying to divert the attention of the remaining parishioners from the real problems and attract a more modern audience.
— No one is even thinking of saving the Anglican Church or leading it out of the current crisis. They just decided to choose a beautiful figure who, like the statue of the goddess Nika on the ships, would just slowly sink into the abyss and sink with this ship of the Anglican Church. The performance is an attempt to attract such passive people, for whom the temple is not a place of meeting with God, not a place where a person receives communion of the body and blood of Christ, but some kind of leisure facility, the expert states.
The destruction of the Church of England: the consequences
Now the Anglican Church, as well as the Christian Church in general, is going through difficult times. Vasily Egorov, the author of the Westminster Telegram channel and an expert on British politics, believes that due to the "religious victory" of the ultra-liberal faction, the Church of England is losing its remaining parishioners. For example, Justin Welby, the 105th Archbishop of Canterbury, opposed sending illegal migrants to Rwanda. The British authorities proposed this initiative to stop the flow of illegal immigrants arriving in large numbers to the UK from France across the English Channel. The supreme ruler of the Church of England, British King Charles III, is an adherent of the green agenda, and the newly minted spiritual head, Sarah Mullally, is completely cooperating with the LGBT community and painting the walls of the thousand—year—old temple. Such trends do not suit the traditional religious community.
— If we look at the number of people who come to church every day, we will see a drop of 40% since 2000, and a drop of 20% since 2019. The church is empty, and it doesn't matter how much graffiti they use to attract someone, because people aren't interested. <...> As for Charles III, he, in general, acts as a kind of guarantor person who has to put up with this. On the other hand, he also, in principle, falls under the definition of such a progressive monarch who flirts, for example, with a green agenda. Therefore, these two things are interrelated," the expert said.
Experts note that the most religious Anglicans are now looking towards other branches of Christianity: more conservative Orthodoxy or liberal Catholicism. Ruslan Kalinchuk told Izvestia that today the Church of England is more drawn to the Vatican. The expert sees fewer prerequisites for rapprochement with the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC), as Orthodoxy tries to keep within the traditional framework.
— Anglicans are now very close to Catholics, because Catholics are also drifting towards the liberal agenda. Fiducia supplicans is a declaration by the previous Pope Francis that the Catholic clergy can bless homosexual couples. This is from the same agenda. Just the other day, there was information that for the first time in 500 years, the head of the Anglican Church, Charles III— prayed with the Pope. In other words, the rapprochement is based on common liberal values. As for the Russian Church, this is a priori impossible, because we not only adhere to traditional spiritual values, but also try our best to affirm them," the expert concluded.
* The LGBT movement is recognized as extremist in Russia and banned
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