LONDON: Sarah Mullally, the bishop of London, was announced Friday as Archbishop of Canterbury, the first time a woman has been chosen as the spiritual leader of the Church of England.

Mullally will face divisions over the treatment of women and LGBTQ people, and she will have to confront concerns that church leaders haven't done enough to stamp out the sexual abuse scandals that have dogged the church for more than a decade.

She follows 105 men to become the first woman to lead 85 Anglicans worldwide.

She will replace former archbishop, Justin Welby, who announced his resignation in November last year after an independent investigation found he failed to tell police about serial physical and sexual abuse by a volunteer at Christian summer camps as soon as he became aware of it.