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First ever female Archbishop of Canterbury officially begins job

Dame Sarah Mullally.PA Media

Dame Sarah Mullally is the first female Archbishop of Canterbury

The first female Archbishop of Canterbury has officially stepped into the role after a big formal ceremony.

Dame Sarah Mullally is the 106th person to take on the job.

The Archbishop of Canterbury is an important religious role, as the spiritual leader of the Church of England - an Anglican Christian Communion that has tens of millions of members across the globe.

Around 2,000 people attended the ceremony including UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, and The Prince and Princess of Wales.

Dame Sarah Mullally.Getty Images

"Once I try and get my head around being the archbishop, I recognise the significance of being the first female archbishop, but I am also aware of the women that have supported me in my ministry," Dame Sarah told the BBC.

"But [it's] also being able to say to other people, in a sense, it's entirely possible for you to follow your dreams and what you want to do," she said.

Who is Dame Sarah Mullally?

dame sarah mullally and children in religious clothing.Getty Images

Dame Sarah Mullally worked as a nurse in the NHS for 35 years, where she became the youngest ever chief nursing officer in England in 1999.

She then made history again by being made the first ever female Bishop of London - the job she's been doing for the past seven years.

Women have only been allowed to become priests in the Church of England since the mid-1990s and bishops since 2014.

Some people in the Church of England are still against the idea of women being priests at all.

So for Dame Sarah to become the first female Archbishop of Canterbury is a big deal for the Church of England.

Dame Sarah Mullally walking on her pilgrimage.Getty Images

In the days leading up to the big ceremony, Dame Sarah walked almost 90 miles over six days as part of a pilgrimage - a religious journey - from St Paul's Cathedral to Canterbury Cathedral.

What happened during the ceremony?

Dame sarah on the throne with lots of people around her.PA Media

Around 2,000 people attended Dame Sarah's enthronement as the Archbishop of Canterbury

The formal ceremony - also known as an enthronement - marks the start of Dame Sarah's role as Archbishop of Canterbury.

It began with Dame Sarah knocking three times on the West Door of the cathedral, she was then welcomed inside by local schoolchildren.

Alongside the royal guests at the ceremony, were NHS nurses and carers from the Canterbury area - to reflect Dame Sarah's previous work as a nurse.

During the ceremony there was also singing in Urdu, a Gospel reading in Spanish and a prayer in the Bemba language of Zambia.