Can the new Archbishop of Canterbury save the embattled Church of England?
The Story
The Times
3.9 • 1.6K Ratings
🗓️ 26 January 2026
⏱️ 28 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
When the new Archbishop of Canterbury is confirmed on Wednesday she’ll become the first woman to lead the Church of England. But Dame Sarah Mullally’s gender and views are already threatening to cause a schism in the global Anglican church. So who is she and can she unite the Church, which has been beset by scandals and shrinking congregations?
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Guest: Kaya Burgess, science and religious affairs correspondent, The Times
Host: Manveen Rana.
Producer: Olivia Case.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | From The Times and the Sunday Times, this is the story. |
| 0:06.3 | I'm Manvian Rana. |
| 0:13.3 | It wasn't that long ago that people were shocked by the idea of a female priest. |
| 0:19.5 | Did you remember 15 years ago when I first came to this parrot, |
| 0:23.2 | women priests were a whole new concept. |
| 0:25.8 | And actually I did encounter a certain amount of prejudice myself. |
| 0:29.2 | Maybe from you, you're sexist pig. |
| 0:32.1 | And when this episode of the Vicar of Dibbley was first broadcast in 2013, |
| 0:37.3 | women may have become vicars, but it was still |
| 0:39.7 | impossible to become a bishop. I would ask you to consider both the argument for women |
| 0:45.7 | bishops, that's for women bishops, and also you should look carefully at the bollocks masquerading |
| 0:52.6 | as an argument against women bishops. |
| 0:57.1 | It was a timely comedy that poked fun at an awkward moment for the church, but also helped to win |
| 1:03.7 | hearts and minds and helped to bring about the cultural change that was needed to make people |
| 1:09.3 | less afraid of allowing women to hold senior positions in the |
| 1:12.7 | church. It wasn't all plain sailing, though. Members of the Church of England, General Sinald, |
| 1:18.6 | have blocked the ordination of women bishops. It was carried in the house of bishops and clergy and lost |
| 1:26.1 | in the house of Laity. |
| 1:34.6 | But the rules did change, and now we're about to welcome the first female Archbishop of Canterbury. |
| 1:38.3 | The first reaction I had was a great surprise, really. |
| 1:44.5 | I had to ask them to repeat what they had just said so I could properly make sure I could hear it. |
| 1:49.1 | At Dame Sarah Mulali's confirmation ceremony later this week, |
... |
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