Conservative Anglicans press opposition to Church's first woman leader

Sarah Mullally, a former nurse, is set to become the Archbishop of Canterbury, the spiritual leader of the Anglican Church which has a foothold in about 165 countries, on March 25. 

While the nomination of the 63-year-old was hailed as a historic first, several archbishops from Africa criticised the idea of a woman leading the Church of England, the mother church of the 85-million-strong global Anglican communion.

Archbishop Henry Ndukuba, of the Church of Nigeria, said following Mullally's nomination in October that "the majority of Anglicans" did not want a woman as the head of their Church.

Nigeria has the second-largest Anglican community after England, with about 18 million members.

The Archbishop of Canterbury typically presides over major royal events such as coronations, weddings and funerals.

The new Global Anglican Communion has three leading members including Mbanda, 71, who had been the chairman of Gafcon since 2023, Gafcon said in a statement.

The body also has a wider membership that includes clergy and lay members, it added.

"Archbishop Sarah Mullally is the Archbishop of Canterbury...but the Global Anglican Communion recognises as its leader Archbishop Laurent Mbanda," Gafcon's spokesman Justin Murff told journalists on Thursday.

"The reality is that the Global Anglican Communion is the Anglican Communion reordered to a biblically faithful orthodox perspective, which is...a radical departure from the current status that Lambeth or Canterbury currently have."

Gafcon describes itself as "a global movement, gathering authentic Anglicans, guarding God’s gospel, growing orthodox leaders and generating missional resources."

It voiced strong opposition when Mullally was named.

"Though there are some who will welcome the decision to appoint Bishop Mullally as the first female Archbishop of Canterbury, the majority of the Anglican Communion still believes that the Bible requires a male-only episcopacy," Gafcon said at the time.

The Anglican Communion Office in a statement on Thursday acknowledged "pain and division in the family" and urged unity among its members. 

"In a fragmented world, it's vital we work through our differences together and uphold the unity of God's Church," a spokesperson for the Anglican Communion Office said.

vid-tba/pdw