A woman was named Archbishop of Canterbury for the first time in the role’s 1,400-year history.
Sarah Mullally will become the spiritual leader of the Anglican Church in January, a year after her predecessor resigned in a safeguarding scandal.
The first archbishop was appointed in 597 AD, but the role took on extra significance when Henry VIII broke with Rome in 1534.
While Anglicanism is on the decline in Britain, it is growing worldwide — nearly 60% of adherents are in Africa, where followers are much more religiously conservative than in Britain.
The communion, already tested by divisions over attitudes towards LGBTQ+ people, will be strained further by Mullally’s appointment: Many African Anglican churches refuse to ordain female priests.