MORE than 2000 people will be in Canterbury Cathedral this week to attend the installation of the Most Revd Sarah Mullally as the 106th Archbishop of Canterbury.
The service, on Wednesday, the Feast of the Annunciation, will be attended by the Prince and Princess of Wales, the Prime Minister, and the Leader of the Opposition, as well as Anglican clergy from across the Church of England and Anglican Communion. Other guests include the Archbishop’s family and friends, faith leaders, charities, health-care workers (representing Archbishop Mullally’s nursing background), and schoolchildren. The new Archbishop will be greeted at the great west door by pupils from the John Wallis Academy, Ashford, at the beginning of the service.
Archbishop Mullally is the first woman to hold the office of Archbishop of Canterbury in its 1400-year history. Although she became Archbishop of Canterbury in January (News, 30 January), Wednesday’s installation marks the start of her public ministry, and provides the opportunity to deliver her inaugural sermon as Archbishop of Canterbury.
The service is intended to reflect the diversity of the Church of England and the Anglican Communion. At least 32 provinces of the Anglican Communion will be represented; 26 Primates will attend, and four others will send representatives.
The service will include choral music led by the Cathedral Choir, and music from around the Communion, such as a Kyrie sung in Urdu. The music to greet the proclamation of the Gospel will be provided by the African Choir of Norfolk.
There will be readings and prayers in five other languages besides English. The Primate of the Church of the Province of Central Africa, the Most Revd Albert Chama, will lead a prayer in the Bemba language of Zambia, and the Bishop of Mexico and Acting Primate of the Anglican Church of Mexico, the Revd Alba Sally Sue Hernández García, will deliver the Gospel reading in Spanish.
Ecumenical guests will include delegations from the Holy See, the Ecumenical Patriarchate, the Coptic Orthodox Church, and other Christian denominations. The new Archbishop of Westminster, the Most Revd Richard Moth, will give a reading from the Old Testament.
The hymns — including “Tell out, my soul” and “Praise, my soul, the King of heaven” — have been personally chosen by Archbishop Mullally. The contribution of women musicians and writers will be reflected in the anthem “All Shall Be Well” by the British composer Joanna Marsh, which sets texts by Mother Julian of Norwich.
During the service, the Dean of Canterbury, the Very Revd David Monteith, will present Archbishop Mullally with her pastoral staff, symbolic of her role as a shepherd. She will be wearing the cope and mitre that were commissioned when she was first consecrated as a bishop, when a clasp was fashioned from the belt buckle that she wore as a nurse while serving in the NHS. As a symbol of the close ties with the Roman Catholic Church, she will wear the pastoral ring given to Archbishop Michael Ramsey in Rome by Pope Paul VI, in 1966, which has been specially fitted for her by the Crown Jeweller.
The crosier that will be presented to her during the service is the same as the one used by Archbishop Geoffrey Fisher, the last Bishop of London to become Archbishop of Canterbury. He received this in 1961 as a gift from the 33 bishops and metropolitans of the then Anglican Communion.
As is traditional, on arrival, Archbishop Mullally will knock on the great west door, before being installed first in the cathedral cathedra as the diocesan Bishop of the See of Canterbury, and then the Chair of St Augustine as Primate of All England, symbolising her ministry in the Anglican Communion, when she will receive a compass rose from the Secretary General of the Anglican Communion, the Rt Revd Anthony Poggo.
At the end of the service, the Archbishop will greet the Prince and Princess of Wales outside the west door of the cathedral, before walking through the Christ Church Gate of the cathedral precinct and pray a blessing on the city and the diocese.
Archbishop Mullally said: “As I prepare to begin my ministry as Archbishop of Canterbury, I am grateful for the prayers and support I have received from people here and around the world. To be welcomed into the city and diocese of Canterbury is an immense privilege — and I am grateful to be sharing in this moment with people of all ages and backgrounds from across the Church of England, the Anglican Communion, our nation, and the world.
“Our world today needs the love, healing, and hope that we find in Jesus Christ. I continue to pray that we renew our confidence in this good news, and recommit ourselves to sharing the joy of the gospel.”
