Watch the historic moment Dame Sarah Mullally is enthroned as the first female Archbishop of Canterbury this afternoon.
Dame Sarah, delivering her first sermon in the role, said she would pray for those impacted by the war across the Middle East, delivering her first sermon in the role.
At the start of the ceremony, Dame Sarah knocked on the great west door using a staff (representing her role as the Church’s shepherd) and was subsequently greeted by local children from the Diocese.
The newly installed archbishop proceeded to the altar of Canterbury Cathedral while the special service commences.
In the nave, the new official renewed her vows and commitment to the Church, swearing on St John’s Bible by placing her hand on the scripture to make the Corporal Oath.
Then the ex-nurse was formally installed as the Archbishop on the “Bishop’s Chair”, which dates from 1844, then later on the “Chair of St Augustine” after the party moved to the quire.
Dame Sarah then delivered her first sermon as Archbishop, later blessing the city and Diocese of Canterbury.
She told the faithful: “As I look back over my life – at the teenage Sarah, who put her faith in God and made a commitment to follow Jesus, I could never have imagined the future that lay ahead, and certainly not the ministry to which I am now called.”
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