Conservative Anglicans intend to elect their own leader

The movement of conservative Anglicans, which unites the majority of parishioners around the world, is preparing to elect its own world leader, refusing to recognize the authority of the new Archbishop of Canterbury, Sarah Malalli. This significant move, taken at a meeting of the Global Anglican Confessing Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans (GAFCON) in Abuja, Nigeria, is a direct response to the ongoing liberalization in the Anglican Church.

GAFCON was founded in 2008 at a conference in Jerusalem as a reaction to liberal reforms such as the ordination of women bishops and the recognition of same-sex «marriage.» The Catholic Herald reports that the current decision by conservative Anglicans is seen as a direct challenge to Sarah Malalli, whose installation as Archbishop of Canterbury is due to take place in the coming weeks. The GAFCON movement unites the majority of practicing Anglicans, especially in the Global South, who adhere to traditional church teachings.

At the current meeting in Abuja, which is being held as a «mini-conference» of bishops and leaders, the plan is not only to rename the association the Global Anglican Communion, but also to elect its own primus inter pares — «first among equals.» Thus, conservative Anglicans will actually refuse to recognize the Archbishopess of Canterbury as the spiritual leader of global Anglicanism.

Divisions within the Anglican Communion have been growing over the past decades. Many churches in Africa and elsewhere retain traditional teachings on marriage and the priesthood and have sharply criticized the election of Sarah Malalli.