Former nurse installed as Archbishop of Canterbury
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Local church leaders say the appointment of the first woman to head England’s Anglican church is welcome and overdue.
Sarah Mullally was installed as the 106th Archbishop of Canterbury on Wednesday, the first woman to hold the title since the position was created in the year 597. The Anglican church split from the Catholic church in the 16th century.
For Anglicans in western Manitoba, the enthronement ceremony marked a good day for the church as a whole.
Sarah Mullally sits during the enthronement ceremony installing her as the 106th Archbishop of Canterbury at Canterbury Cathedral, England, on Wednesday. (The Associated Press)
“I think it’s a great day in the church, it’s a great day for the Anglican communion, it’s a great day in the church in England,” Bishop Rachael Parker said Wednesday in an interview at St. Matthew’s Anglican Cathedral in Brandon, which is also the Anglican Centre.
“I think it’s a great day for women in the church, and women in the church that are ordained and the women in church who are lay people,” she said.
Parker leads the Diocese of Brandon, which covers western and northern Manitoba.
Mullally, a former cancer nurse who became a priest at the age of 40, walked into Canterbury Cathedral on Wednesday to celebrate her historic election.
Although Mullally, 63, formally became archbishop in January, Wednesday’s event marked the beginning of her public ministry as both the head of the Church of England and spiritual leader of the worldwide Anglican communion. The communion is an association of independent churches that together have more than 100 million members.
While Mullally is the head of the church in England and doesn’t have as much authority in Canada, Parker said it’s fantastic to see a woman hold the church’s top job.
“Now for young girls to look up and see right up there with the King and the leaders of the British Empire, the United Kingdom, to see the Anglican communion with a woman at the head, it’s kind of exciting. It’s really energizing,” Parker said.
She added that it’s less important now than she would have thought years ago, however.
Parker met former archbishop Justin Welby in Canterbury last year, she said, and her time in England gave her a different perspective about Mullally’s role, as the church in England looks at things differently than in Canada and its history of women being ordained isn’t as long.
Rev. Rachael Parker, bishop for the Diocese of Brandon, stands in St. Matthew’s Anglican Cathedral on 13th Street on Wednesday. (Tim Smith/The Brandon Sun)
“So there’s some challenges for her locally there, I think. But I think it’s fantastic.”
Women were first ordained in England in 1994, but Canada has a longer history of women being ordained, with the practice first allowed in 1975.
The bishop said Mullally’s background as a nurse and England’s former chief nursing officer will help in her new role and bring a different touch than the last archbishop’s business background.
Regardless of the gender of the archbishop, the last 12 months have changed a lot, and Mullally will face challenges, she said.
Rev. Chris Evetts, dean of St. Matthew’s Anglican Cathedral, said Mullally’s recent 140-kilometre pilgrimage from London to Canterbury is a sign that she’s starting something new.
“It’s fantastic. I think it’s well overdue, and certainly we’re excited to see how this flourishes,” Evetts said.
He said the church has a long history of looking down on various people in their roles in ministry, and that women in ministry have been “humanity’s hang up” as opposed to God’s hang up.
He added that detractors will become fewer and fewer, though he didn’t elaborate.
After Mullally was elected in January, a conservative faction of the church in Africa had planned to name a rival head. It eventually backed down from those plans and instead unveiled a leadership council.
Rev. Chris Evetts, dean of St. Matthew’s Anglican Cathedral, stands in the church on 13th Street on Wednesday. (Tim Smith/The Brandon Sun)
The Anglican Church of Canada is an extension of England’s church, Evetts said, but is separate.
An anniversary event commemorating 50 years of women in ministry is being held later this year in Victoria, B.C., and Evetts expects it will be a major celebration.
Parker said women were first ministers in Canada when she was a child, which showed her that the position could be attainable as she grew up.
“I think for women in Canada, we have been sort of walking that road for a long time,” she said.
“Canada has lots of opportunities to lead when it comes to the rest of the world.”
» alambert@brandonsun.com, with files from The Associated Press