Podcast Summary: The Interview – Dame Sarah Mullally, Archbishop of Canterbury: Working in Partnership With Others

Podcast: The Interview (BBC World Service)
Host: Alim McBoul
Date: February 13, 2026
Guest: Dame Sarah Mullally, incoming Archbishop of Canterbury

Episode Overview

This episode features Dame Sarah Mullally, the first woman to become Archbishop of Canterbury, discussing her historic appointment, her commitment to partnership and collaboration in leadership, and her approach to a Church navigating internal tensions and public scrutiny. Covering topics from safeguarding and justice to progress on same-sex blessings, reparative justice, and confronting misogyny, Dame Sarah lays out her vision for a more inclusive, transparent Church of England.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

The Weight and Hope of Office

• Support and Encouragement
  • Dame Sarah acknowledges the "weight of office" but describes feeling uplifted by wide support as she steps into the role.

    "There's a sense of the weight of office that I feel, but I've also been very conscious of the huge support that I've had from people either writing emails or passing in the streets... So also I feel hopeful as well." (04:12)

Path to Leadership

• Single Vocation, Multiple Callings
  • Sarah emphasizes a singular commitment to following Jesus Christ, seeing both her nursing and priestly careers as part of that.

    "I've had one vocation and that's to follow Jesus Christ... there's commonalities between nursing and being a priest, that of people often sitting in those places where maybe there is no cure, but there is healing." (05:44)

• Values: Collaboration and Encouragement
  • Attributes her rise to collaboration and enabling others, citing a preference for partnership and empowering teams over individual ambition.

    "I've always been somebody that wants to work with people, to enable them and encourage them to be the best that they can be." (06:35)

Controversy Around Her Appointment

• Anglican Communion Tensions
  • Some churches have pushed back against a female Archbishop and threatened schism.
  • Sarah’s approach: listen empathetically, offer hospitality, and seek continued partnership.

    "What I hope to do is to be able to provide a space where I can offer hospitality to people, where I can listen to what their concerns are... find some way in which we can at least have partnership together." (07:42)

• Building Relationships with Global Leaders
  • Sarah has already met with the five regional Anglican primates and several bishops, focusing on knowing and being known to lay a foundation of trust.

    "Whenever you start a new role, you have to know and be known." (08:42)

Safeguarding and Abuse Scandals

• Facing Scrutiny
  • She addresses lingering questions about her role in safeguarding failures, recommitting to transparency, victim advocacy, and independence in safeguarding processes.

    "All of us should be open to having the light shone on what we do... I will reiterate my commitment to safeguarding, particularly to listening to the victims and survivors of abuse." (10:09)

  • She confirms reforms are coming to the clergy disciplinary process for more independent scrutiny.

    "I have spoken before about improving the clergy disciplinary measure and proposals are going to this Synod in February to work on that." (11:31)

Same-Sex Blessings and Equality

• Progress Within Process
  • Sarah supports blessings for same-sex couples in existing services and highlights the significance for involved couples.

    "The House of Bishops commended prayers to be said, prayers of blessings and thanksgiving for same sex couples... that been made possible. And having spoken to couples who have already experienced those prayers... I know how much that means to them." (12:49)

  • On standalone blessings, she stresses her role is to listen to Synod and hold space for diverse views, not to preempt the process.

    "As the Archbishop of Canterbury, one of those things that I want to offer is how you shape further that space where people of different views on the issue of same sex blessings can operate and to speak about it." (14:40)

Reparative Justice for Slavery

• Church’s Responsibility and Action
  • Sarah supports reparative justice efforts, citing the Spire Project, which aims to support deprived communities as part of addressing the Church's involvement in slavery.

    "The Church of England has to take seriously its role and the part we played in the transportation of enslaved people... the Spire Project seeks to try and, in a sense, provide a just and a merciful way forward." (19:20)

  • She assures that funds for reparative justice do not come at the expense of church parishes.

    "Project Spire does not take money away from parishes and our chaplaincies... this 1.6 million is going to some of our most lowest income communities." (20:26)

Assisted Dying Debate

• Complexity and Scrutiny
  • She advocates for serious parliamentary scrutiny of assisted dying proposals, noting the importance and complexity of the debate for society.

    "It's absolutely right that the House of Lords takes their role for scrutiny absolutely seriously... to ensure that the right decisions are made." (21:54)

Leadership Philosophy and Navigating Misogyny

• Bridge-Building over Dictating
  • Sarah envisions her role as one of partnership and bridge-building, noting that decisive moments may arise where she must assert a view, but always with integrity, theological insight, and after listening to others.

    "My role has always been to, first of all listen to God, but to listen to other people, that we work in partnership... there will be moments where I have to either make a decision... and I will do that." (23:04)

• Confronting Sexism
  • She candidly acknowledges experience with misogyny and commits to speaking out and supporting those less able to do so.

    "I've learned it's the first thing you have to talk about it so that you bring it out into the open... I'm conscious that being in this role, it's important for me to speak of it." (24:06)

Notable Quotes and Memorable Moments

• On her historic role:

  "I hope to be the shepherd, to care for people in their parishes, for our clergy, to support them... and also to speak of the Christian hope, not just within the Church and the Anglican Communion, but also into the world." (04:49)

• On partnership in leadership:

  "If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together. And so my desire is to go far and together." (23:36)

• On tackling internal sexism:

  "I commit myself to making an environment where all people can flourish, which is safer for all." (24:06)

Timestamps for Key Segments

| Timestamp | Segment | | --------- | ------- | | 04:12 – 05:19 | Feelings of hope and sense of duty as incoming Archbishop | | 05:44 – 07:10 | Path to leadership, collaboration as a core value | | 07:42 – 08:42 | Responding to opposition within the Anglican Communion | | 10:09 – 11:55 | Safeguarding reforms and commitment to victim-first approaches | | 12:49 – 14:40 | Blessings for same-sex couples and navigating divisions | | 19:20 – 20:26 | Reparative justice projects addressing Church’s role in slavery | | 21:54 – 23:04 | Assisted dying debate and the Church’s public role | | 23:36 – 24:06 | Bridge-building, partnership, and her approach to leadership | | 24:06 – 25:06 | Speaking out against misogyny and fostering inclusion |

Summary of Tone and Style

Throughout the conversation, Dame Sarah is thoughtful, measured, and deeply committed to dialogue and partnership. She projects hope, humility, and a willingness to confront uncomfortable truths, both in historical matters like slavery and in contemporary challenges such as safeguarding, misogyny, and LGBTQ+ inclusion. The tone is constructive, future-focused, and suffused with her egalitarian and collaborative Christian ethos.