Catholic Church represented at Installation of Archbishop of Canterbury

On Wednesday 25 March 2026, the Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord, the Most Reverend Dame Sarah Mullally was installed as Archbishop of Canterbury in Canterbury Cathedral. The Archbishop of Canterbury is Primate of All England, the most senior bishop in the Church of England, with a role in guiding the wider church and in British public life. The Archbishop is also one of the ‘instruments’ of the Anglican Communion, along with the Anglican Consultative Council, the Primates’ Meeting and the Lambeth Conference. Archbishop Mullally is the 106^th Archbishop of Canterbury, the 36^th since the separation of the Church of England from Rome in the sixteenth century. She is the first woman to serve in the role.

Bishops, clergy and faithful from the Church of England and the wider Anglican Communion were joined in the Cathedral by state and civic representatives, and by many ecumenical and interfaith delegations. The Catholic delegation was led by Cardinal Kurt Koch, Prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity. He was accompanied by the Secretary, Archbishop Flavio Pace, and by the official responsible for relations with the Anglican Communion, Fr Martin Browne OSB. Cardinal Koch brought a letter for Archbishop Mullally from His Holiness Pope Leo XIV.

Other Catholic representatives present included Cardinal Vincent Nichols, Archbishop-emeritus of Westminster; Cardinal Timothy Radcliffe OP; Archbishop Richard Moth of Westminster; Archbishop John Wilson of Southwark; Archbishop Bernard Longley of Birmingham (Co-chair of ARCIC); Archbishop Leo Cushley of Saint Andrews and Edinburgh; Bishop Kenneth Nowakowski of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church in the United Kingdom, Mons. Ante Vidović, Secretary of the Apostolic Nunciature in London, and Canon Anthony Charlton, Pastor of the Parish of St Thomas of Canterbury.

_{Photos © Neil Turner for Lambeth Palace}