After being appointed Archbishop of Canterbury, a former nurse made history by becoming the first female leader of the centuries-old mother church of the 85 million-strong Anglican community worldwide.

After her predecessor’s departure due to an abuse scandal, Sarah Mullally, 63, officially assumes the position.

In front of about 2,000 spectators, including heir apparent Prince William and his wife Princess Catherine, the former midwife was formally installed in the historic ceremony at Canterbury Cathedral in southeast England.

As was customary, Mullally knocked three times on the west door of the cathedral with a staff to gain entry.

She was welcomed by the local schoolchildren, who inquired as to why she had been sent, while wearing rich yellow-gold robes.

“I am sent as archbishop to serve you, to proclaim the love of Christ and with you to worship and love him with heart and soul, mind and strength,” she responded.

The ceremony then culminated with Mullally being seated in two different thrones.

The seats symbolise the dual responsibilities of the role – as a bishop in the diocese of Canterbury and as the spiritual leader of Anglicans worldwide.

Mullally’s predecessor, Justin Welby, announced his resignation as head of the Church of England in November 2024 over failures in handling an abuse scandal.

He stepped down after a report found the Church of England had covered up a 1970s serial abuse case and that he failed to report the abuses to authorities when they came to his attention in 2013.

Mullally has stressed her commitment to “do all I can to ensure that the Church becomes safer and also responds well to victims and survivors of abuse”.

The church was “seeking to become more trauma informed, listening to survivors and victims of abuse”, she said in an interview with the BBC this week.