Primatial Statement on the Appointment of the 106^th Archbishop of Canterbury 

E te hāhi horapa, kia ū ki te kotahitanga o te wairua, he mea paihere nā te rangimārie.

Kua tohungia he hēpara hou e te hāhi o Ingarangi. Ka whai korōria, hōnore, hareruia a Ihowa i āna manaakitanga ki tōnā hāhi ki runga i te whenua. He Ātipīhopa o Canterbury anō kua ara hei ārahi i te hāhi o Ingarangi ki tua o te ao Karaitiana. Ka pūmautia tonutia ngā rītenga me ngā tikanga o te hāhi o te Atua ki runga ki a tātau ki te whenua anō hoki.

I runga i te wairua kotahi ka whakawhetai tātau te Hāhi Mihinare ki Aotearoa, ki Niu Tīreni, ki ngā moutere o te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa ki tēnei rongo pai kua tau iho ki te whatumanawa.

E Ihowa, ko wai e tomo ki tōu whare tapu? Ko wai hoki e piki ki tōu maunga tapu?

Waiata 15:2

We celebrate and unequivocally support the Right Reverend and Right Honourable Dame Sarah Mullally DBE as the 106^th Archbishop-designate of Canterbury. She will be installed in a service at Canterbury Cathedral in March 2026.

Throughout her vocation, she has led through care and servanthood, serving as Chief Nursing Officer for England while also living out her call to ordained ministry, a path marked by deep integrity.

Honoured as a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire for her service to nursing and midwifery, she has also redrawn the map of possibility within the Church of England. She became the first woman to lead an ordination service, the first to serve as Bishop of London, and now stands as the first Archbishop-designate of Canterbury. Each step in her calling is both her achievement and a sign of God at work, breaking barriers and empowering women in faith.

All through scripture, in every generation, there is significant and crucial female leadership. This is nothing new to us. The call of God upon women has always been present and powerful, and to ignore it is to misrepresent the truth of our faith.

In the Book of Judges, Deborah’s story reads like a timeless pattern, a reminder that God’s leaders rise not through power or privilege but through faithfulness and wisdom, bringing with them the possibility of justice and freedom.

We saw this embodied in Bishop Penelope Jamieson, the first female diocesan bishop in the Anglican Communion from our province, remembered for her fierce commitment to social justice and her unrelenting push for women’s ordination.

“I am delighted that the church has had both the discernment and the courage to recognise in Dame Sarah the giftings we need in our next Archbishop of Canterbury, and appoint her,” says Bishop Anne van Gend from the Diocese of Dunedin.

“She is someone of deep faith and broad experience of people, and will be a wise and compassionate leader. It is not just wonderful for women that she has been given this role, but for all of us.”

We mark this milestone through our shared whakapapa with the See of Canterbury, the first Anglican diocese and a steady instrument of the Communion. The office carries immense weight, and so we hold the Bishop Sarah in a hope that leans forward, expectant, into history.

We take a moment, too, to thank the Crown Nominations Commission, the body that poured hours into prayerful discernment, listening for the will of God in shaping leadership for Anglicans across the globe. Among them was our own Reverend Canon Isaac Beach of Te Hui Amorangi ki Te Tairāwhiti, honoured to lend his voice to that worldwide process.

Please join us in holding Bishop Sarah in our prayers as she moves through this threshold season of her appointment.

Together in Christ’s love and service,

Archbishop Don Tamihere     
Archbishop Sione Ulu’ilakepa   
Archbishop Justin Duckworth