Sarah Mullally, a onetime nurse who became the first female Anglican bishop of London, was named on Friday as the 106th archbishop of Canterbury, making her the spiritual leader of 85 million Anglicans worldwide and the first woman to occupy a history-laden post, established more than 1,400 years ago.

Archbishop-designate Mullally will succeed Justin Welby, who resigned from the position last November under pressure, after the publication of a report that said he had failed to pursue a proper investigation into claims of widespread abuse of boys and young men decades ago at Christian summer camps.

A former cancer nurse who served as a health administrator and the chief nursing officer for England, Archbishop-designate Mullally, 63, is a vocal exponent of the rights and role of women in the Church of England. She has been the bishop of London since 2018, having been ordained as a priest in 2002.

The appointment of a woman was not a total surprise. The rumored short list of candidates had included two other female bishops. But the naming of Archbishop-designate Mullally thrusts the church into a new era, potentially sowing tensions within the far-flung Anglican Communion, to which the Church of England, as well as the Episcopal Church in the United States, belong.

Other bishops in that body are more conservative on women’s rights and other social issues than those in the Church of England. The church itself has been cleaved between reformers and traditionalists on issues like same-sex marriage.

Speaking from the altar at Canterbury Cathedral after her appointment was announced, Archbishop-designate Mullally thanked women who had served in the church before her for being path-breakers, and she offered an inclusive answer to those who would ask what a female archbishop might mean.