The stained glass ceiling has finally shattered. In an ancient ceremony at St Paul’s Cathedral, Dame Sarah Mullally was legally confirmed as the 106th Archbishop of Canterbury, becoming the first woman to hold the highest office in the Church of England since its break from Rome in the 16th century.

The "Confirmation of Election" was a collision of medieval pageantry and modern progress. Mullally, a former Chief Nursing Officer who once managed NHS budgets, now manages the spiritual welfare of 85 million Anglicans. As she took the oath, the bells of London rang out for a new era—one that would have been unimaginable to her 105 male predecessors.

A Church Divided

Her ascent is a triumph, but it comes with a heavy crown. She inherits a global communion fractured by deep schisms over gender and sexuality. Conservative provinces in Africa and the Global South have already signaled unease. Mullally’s background as a pragmatist and a healer will be tested immediately as she attempts to hold together a family that is threatening to divorce.

• From the Ward to the Altar: Her journey from the cancer wards of the NHS to the throne of St Augustine is unique. Supporters say her "pastoral grit" is exactly what the Church needs. "She knows how to care for the dying," one bishop noted. "Now she must help the Church learn how to live."

Today was for the history books. Tomorrow, the politics begin. But for one moment, as the first "Mama" of the Church stood in the light of St Paul’s, the weight of history felt a little lighter.