Sarah Mullally confirmed as Archbishop of Canterbury (Full Transcript)

[00:00:00] Speaker 1: Let's take you straight to the steps of St. Paul's Cathedral here in London, and here is Dame Sarah Mullally who has now been confirmed as the 106th Archbishop of Canterbury. It is a photo call time, so she is standing there having her photo taken after a ceremony that we have seen over the last hour or so, the confirmation of election service. A part of the church's history for many, many hundreds of years, part Christian liturgy, part legal process. This was a ceremony we've been watching that served as a way for the Ecclesiastical Court, that's the church's court, to confirm that last year's election, which chose her to replace Justin Welby, was legal. But what is remarkable about this moment is she becomes the first woman to take the Church of England's top ministry role, and she says she hopes to lead with calmness, consistency and compassion. Watching events unfold for us and standing there looking at the photo call is our religion editor Aleem Makbul. Aleem, this is quite a moment for the church.

[00:01:03] Speaker 2: A huge moment, as you say, ancient rites in that ceremony. If you can hear me over the bells pealing very loudly of St Paul's Cathedral behind me. But yes, ancient rites in that ceremony that had been performed over centuries, but for the first time performed by a woman. She didn't give a sermon today, she didn't deliver a sermon. The public-facing part of what she does will start in earnest, really, after an installation ceremony at the end of March at Canterbury Cathedral. But she did give an interview today when she said she recognised the weight, the gravity of the moment. She recognised that she now had to be someone who listened, not just to those here that she serves in the Church of England, but in the wider global Anglican community. And not an easy job, but she also said, crucially, that she would not be complacent when it comes to safeguarding, of course, remembering why her predecessors stepped down because of safeguarding failures. There was a heckler that at one point interrupted the service talking about safeguarding failures, but for today, as you can see, the Church of England wants to focus on celebration and really a moment of history, as we've been describing.

[00:02:34] Speaker 1: A moment of history, Alim, and I know you have been speaking to the new archbishop. Let's have a listen to what she told you.

[00:02:43] Speaker 3: I suppose I feel called to the role of the Archbishop of Canterbury in a sense with who I am. And I have to work that role out within integrity. And my role has always been to, first of all, listen to God, but to listen to other people.

[00:03:01] Speaker 4: You'll, of course, be aware of some of the response in some churches around the world to your election that have been negative.

[00:03:09] Speaker 3: Well, I've received a lot of support across the Anglican Communion, but I recognise there are those that find my appointment difficult. And the sense for me that I have always understood that people may find my appointment as a woman difficult in the church. And what I hope to do is to be able to provide a space where I can offer hospitality to people, where I can listen to what their concerns are. And in a sense, find some way in which we can at least have partnership together in that way.

[00:03:43] Speaker 4: You were a senior member of the church in recent years, which haven't been good years in terms of dealing with safeguarding necessarily.

[00:03:51] Speaker 3: I said on the day of my announcement that all of us should be open to having the light shone on what we do. And coming in as the Archbishop of Canterbury, I recognise rightly so that there is greater scrutiny on me and the actions that I have undertaken. And I will reiterate my commitment to safeguarding, particularly to listening to the victims and survivors of abuse. And I have over the years, and London is evidence of this, of increasing resources into safeguarding, ensuring that our procedures are better and also pastoral to people.

[00:04:30] Speaker 4: Others have talked in the past about some levels of misogyny in the church, that it can be a bit of a boys' club, that there can be microaggressions. How will you navigate that?

[00:04:44] Speaker 3: It is fair to say that I have both in my secular role as well as in the church experienced a misogyny at times. And I think that I've learnt it's the first thing you have to talk about it so that you bring it out into the open. And I'm conscious that being in this role, it's important for me to speak of it because there are some that don't necessarily have the status or the power of this role and feel more hesitant to do it. But certainly, as the Church of England, we have seen many changes over the years. And I commit myself to making an environment where all people can flourish and which is safer for all.

[00:05:23] Speaker 1: The new Archbishop of Canterbury, Dame Sarah Mullally, is speaking to Alim there. And Alim is still watching the photo call on the steps of St Paul's Cathedral. And she talked to you there, Alim, about how her appointment is quite difficult for some people to grasp and accept. But I wonder, what is the first thing that she really has to tackle? What is in her intray?

[00:05:46] Speaker 2: Yeah, it's extraordinary to hear her talk that way so matter-of-factly about the fact that people don't think that she can do the job simply because of the fact that she's a woman and that's something she accepts. She's now, as you can hopefully see behind me, descended the steps herself and is now waving and greeting people outside St Paul's Cathedral. As I say, though, the public-facing part of her job really starts after the end of March. But before that, she will, for example, meet the Prime Minister. She will go and pay homage to the King. She will also preside over the meeting of the Church's National Assembly, General Synod, where there are very difficult issues to be discussed, including the issue of blessings for same-sex couples, which is something that the Church voted for a couple of years ago. We now hear that the process to make that happen has collapsed and it's now not going to happen. Now people will be looking to Dame Sarah Mullally for her leadership on issues like that. But immediately as well, people at that meeting will be looking at what is going to happen on the crucial issue of safeguarding. There have been many reviews, many reports, many inquiries, and lots of promises made by the Church of England about how they will rectify the problems that there clearly are. There have been those from outside who say the pace of change is too slow in the Church. She's talked ahead of this moment about the fact that she wouldn't be complacent, that she would help things to move forward, and now people will be starting to look for action on these points.

[00:07:30] Speaker 1: Liam, good to have you with us as we see the new Archbishop of Canterbury greeting the crowds there outside St Paul's Cathedral after the confirmation of her election, to remind you of how remarkable this moment. She is the first woman to hold the office in its 1,400-year history.