Church of England must oppose antisemitism, says 1st female head after synagogue attack

In her first speech since being nominated on Friday, the new Archbishop of Canterbury said the Church of England had a responsibility to stand with Jews against antisemitism following a deadly Yom Kippur terror attack on a synagogue in Manchester.

“I know that the god who is with us draws near to those who suffer,” said Sarah Mullally, the first woman to hold the 1,400-year-old office.

“We then, as a church, have a responsibility to be a people who stand with the Jewish community against antisemitism in all its forms. Hatred and racism of any kind cannot be allowed to tear us apart,” Mullally said.

“Across our nation today, we are wrestling with complex moral and political questions the deep-rooted question of who we are as a nation in a world that is so often on the brink,” she said.

“Mindful of the horrific violence of yesterday’s attack on a synagogue in Manchester, we are witnessing hatred that rises up through fractures across our communities,” she said.

Two people were killed and four were seriously injured when a terrorist carried out a stabbing and car-ramming terror attack outside Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue on Thursday, as worshipers marked Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish calendar.

The attacker, named as Jihad al-Shamie, a 35-year-old British citizen of Syrian descent, was shot dead by police at the scene. Police said Friday that they believed one of the Jewish victims had also been shot by police as he helped barricade the synagogue door during the attack.

Attacks on Jews in the UK and elsewhere have soared since the war in Gaza was sparked by the Hamas onslaught of October 7, 2023.

The first female Archbishop of Canterbury has said the Church has a 'responsibility to stand with the Jewish community' after the attack on a Manchester Synagogue.

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In her speech Friday, Mullally also pledged to improve safety at the Church of England after her predecessor Justin Welby resigned over a child abuse cover-up scandal.

Mullally acknowledged the “huge responsibility” of her new role and vowed to “confront the dynamics of power” that had led the church to cover up the abuse of dozens of boys and young men several decades ago.

She cautioned that it would “not be easy,” due to a “history of safeguarding failures” that has “left a legacy of deep harm and mistrust” in the Church of England.

“We must all be willing to have light shone on our actions, regardless of our role in the church,” she said during an appearance at Canterbury Cathedral in southeast England following her appointment.

“As Archbishop, my commitment will be to ensure that we continue to listen to survivors, care for the vulnerable, and foster a culture of safety and well-being for all,” Mullally added.

Previously supported same-sex marriage, opposed assisted dying

A 63-year-old former midwife, Mullally, was announced Friday as the 106th leader of the centuries-old Church of England, the mother church of the world’s 85-million-strong Anglican community.

Her nomination was approved by King Charles III following a lengthy selection process under a former head of the MI5 domestic security service. The nomination prompted criticism from conservative Anglicans, mainly based in Africa, who oppose women bishops.

Bishop of London since 2018, Mullally has reportedly described herself as a feminist and called the decision to finally allow priests to bless same-sex couples in 2023 as “a moment of hope for the church,” although she recognized that differences remained.

As one of 26 archbishops and bishops who sit in parliament’s unelected House of Lords Upper Chamber, Mullally has also been a vocal opponent of plans to legalize assisted dying in England and Wales.

In June, she called the bill “unworkable and unsafe,” adding “the potential for abuse and uninformed or coerced decisions is enormous.”

Asked by Reuters in an interview on Friday about same-sex relationships, Mullally said: “The Church of England and the Anglican Communion have a long history of having to wrestle with … difficult issues.”

“It’s really hard for us because we’re in the middle of it, and I recognize the anxiety… that is caused when difficult issues are discussed,” she said. “It may not be resolved quickly.”

GAFCON, a grouping of conservative Anglican churches globally, immediately criticized Mullally’s appointment, saying it showed that the English arm of the Church had “relinquished its authority to lead.”

Was NHS chief nurse before being ordained

The Church of England became the country’s state establishment church following King Henry VIII’s split from the Roman Catholic Church in the 1530s.

The British monarch is its supreme governor, while the Archbishop of Canterbury is seen as the spiritual leader of Anglicans worldwide.

Mullally, who is married and has two children, will officially take up the role following a ceremony due in January.

She worked in Britain’s state-run National Health Service for more than three decades, rising to become its chief nursing officer for England in 1999.

Ordained a priest in 2002, she became the first female Bishop of London in 2018, only four years after the church began allowing women bishops following years of bitter factional wrangling.

Some churches around the Anglican world had long permitted women bishops, with the first appointed in the United States in 1989.

More than 40 of England’s 108 bishops are now women, with a similar proportion among priests, after women clergy were first permitted in the early 1990s.