Friday, the church of England appointed Sarah Mullally as the next Archbishop of Canterbury, the first woman to serve as a ceremonial chief of Anglican Christianity around the world, causing immediate criticism of conservative church leaders in Africa.
The 63 -year -old bishop, who was formerly a nurse of England, like her predecessors, will face a divided communion between conservatives and more liberal Christians on the role of women in the Church and the acceptance of same -sex couples.
Although the appointment was greeted by many religious leaders in Great Britain, Laurent Mbanda, Archbishop of Rwanda and president of a world group of conservative Anglican churches, told Reuters that Mullally would not have united communion. A bishop in Nigeria said the choice was “very dangerous” because women should follow men. The evangelical wing of the Church of England also called to stop what he described as a drift of the Scriptures.
Mullalay defended the liberal causes
Bishop of London since 2018, Mullally previously supported the blessings of same -sex couples, a major source of discord in world English communion. Homosexuality remains prohibited in certain African countries.
Friday, in an address at the Centerbury cathedral, she said that she would seek to help each ministry prosper “whatever our tradition”. On homosexual relations, she told Reuters in an interview that the Church of England and wider communion had long fought with difficult problems. “It may not be resolved quickly,” she added.
Mullally said she wanted the Church to confront the abuse of power after the sexual abuse scandals and the safeguard of failures, and she condemned increasing anti -Semitism on Thursday following an attack on a synagogue in Manchester who killed two men.
The Church of England, which broke out of Roman Catholicism in the 16th century, allowed women to be ordered as a priests for more than 30 years and as bishops for more than a decade. These reforms have been rejected by numerous churches in Africa and Asia which are part of communion but have established their own rules.
“Christ is the church chief, the man is the head of the family, and of creation, God has never given the leadership position to the woman,” Reuters at Reuters at Reuters Funkuro Godrules in Nigeria, bishop of Northern Izon.
The Vatican, which does not allow women to be ordered as a priests, welcomed the appointment of Mullally in a press release, noting that the challenges to which the Anglican Church was “considerable”.
Safeguarding the necessary improvements
Mullally will replace Justin Welby, who has resigned for a scandal to conceal the abuse of children and who was criticized by some Anglicans for playing a role of activist on social issues.
In her speech on the cathedral, she spoke of the difficulties of an age which “are carefully and tribalism” and a country fights with complex moral and political questions. She noted the “horrible violence” of the attack on the synagogue, saying that it revealed “the hatred that rises through fractures in our communities”.
Mullally, who as a bishop already has a seat in the Lord’s House of the British Parliament, is also a free opponent of the proposed legislation to allow assisted death.
‘It’s all about people’
A former cancer nurse, Mullally worked as a head of nursing in England in the early 2000s. She was ordered as a priest in 2002 and became one of the first women devoted as a bishop in 2015.
The married mother of two adult children often said that there were similarities between nursing and ministry: “These are people and sit with people during the most difficult moments of their lives,” she said once to a magazine.
Linda Woodhead, professor of theology at King’s College in London, said that the Church needed solid management skills in Mullally. “His accent put on unity, sweetness and strength is exactly what the Church and the nation need at the moment,” she said.
Reflecting the role of the Church as the established faith of England, the appointment was announced by the office of Prime Minister Keir Starmer and officially seated by King Charles, the Supreme Governor of the Church since Henri VIII broke out with Rome almost 500 years ago.
David Penetll, 74, who runs a group of tourist guides in Canterbury, thought about the predecessors of Mullally. “Some of them were very good, some were quite bad,” he said. “Some of them have been very controversial, and some of them ended up self-employing. I hope it does not happen to it. It is delicious.”
