Conservative Anglicans press opposition to Church's first woman leader

ABUJA: Conservative Anglican bishops who oppose the Church of England for the first time appointing a woman as its head said Thursday they had created a new body to lead them.

The Global Anglican Future Conference, or Gafcon, named Laurent Mbanda, the archbishop of Rwanda, as the chairman of the new council in Nigeria's capital Abuja.

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 her 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.

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.